Ash x Bleach Season 1
by marc1986
Summary: In this tale Ash goes to an alternate dimension where the sword is the key. He also receives help from one of the best known swordsmen.
1. Chapter 1

Ash, and other characters are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Bleach: characters and locations are from Viz Media

Chapter 1

New location, same job - Hero

Ash Ketchum native to Pallet Town was currently in his room lying on his bed, and thinking of the new journey ahead. 'I'm going to the Unova with Professor Oak tomorrow. I wonder if I will get to meet Zoroark again.' He thought while gazing at his ceiling before fading to dream. Above him was an old friend - ready to greet him.

'Good thing I know how to get to his house.' The creature thought before landing in the front yard, and began pecking at the door. All throughout the house the strange tapping could be heard, and one of the two Ketchum's heard it.

"What's that?" The Pallet Town protector thought aloud before reaching up to his new clock to check the time. "2:30 in the morning?" He muttered before switching to street clothes and headed down to the door. "I know it's early, but someone may need help." The young one assured himself before walking to the door.

"Ash!" The big bird that stood before him cheered when he saw the human - who was also happy to see the flying creature.

"It's good to see you, Pidgeot! How have you been?" The former trainer to the creature said with a big smile as he enjoyed holding his old friend again. Ketchum released and decided to look his friend in the eye.

"There's no time for pleasantries. I felt something off in Lavender Town." The bird said back to him in it's native tongue. Even though the human could only get the jist of the message the Trainer could see that it was urgent thanks to the look in it's eyes.

"Lead the way." Ash said before hopping onto the flyer's back, and they took off. The two headed to that all to familiar building. "The tower? Why are we…" Ash questioned but stopped when his body was struck by an incredible power. "Nevermind." He said before walking in.

'Good luck, old friend.' Pidgeot thought before flying off. The hero kept on walking upward - having a feeling that the strange power was coming from their playroom.

'It's a good thing I spotted this floor door when I was last here.' The mortal thought before opening said door, and was now in the playroom - just as cheerful as ever: except that Ghost types were cowering against the far wall. "Guy's what the matter?" He asked the Gastly and Gengar who simply looked at him with fear filled eyes.

'Maybe he can help.' The fully evolved one thought before pointing at something behind the human. Intriged the hero turned to see a wardrobe, and nothing else. Beliving that it was some sort of trick Ketchum decided to humor them and check it out.

'Hopefully it's just a harmless prank this time.' Ash thought as he recalled the last time involved them removing his and Pikachu's souls from their bodies for a time. The young man opened the door and saw a portal before him. "What is this?" He asked before feeling the same dark force from outside coming from inside the wardrobe.

'So, it's a portal.' The floating head behind them thought while looking at the object before him. The human gazed at the hole and did not like what it may represent.

"Wonder where this came from?" Ash thought aloud and added, "Could be another Giratina dimension, or maybe it's from Palkia and Dialga's fight." Ash knew that his world had strange, and mysterious secrets, so he knew anything was possible. "What if: who ever is on the other side of this portal is being attacked. I have to help them." He said to himself before walking into the wardrobe, but something grabbed his hand.

"Please. Please, don't go, Ash." Gengar said to the hero since the Ghost class did not want his first living friend to venture into this strange void.

"Don't worry, Gengar. I'll be fine, and back before you know it." The human said to the gently creature in a calm tone. Believing this the ghost/poison class released his grip and Ash walked through the portal, and the moment the native of Pallet Town did that the portal closed behind him.

'Please be alright.' The two thought after seeing the only means to follow vanish right before their eyes. As Ash was walking through the portal he was visited by two familiar faces which he did not know of them until one spoke.

"Be on your guard, Ash Ketchum. You are about to enter a world where the rules and regulations you are familiar with no longer apply." The voice to his right stated which caused the Pallet Town Protector to look in that direction.

"Sir Aaron? You're here, but I thought that you were…" Ash started to explain himself, but was interrupted by a voice to his left.

"We are dead, but you need to take what he's saying to heart. The dimension you are about to enter will make very little sense so you will always be ready to fight." The monster tamer looked over to the left informant and saw that it was a familiar sight as well.

"Lucario? You're here too?" The hero questioned and received a silent nod as his answer. If the two of you know of the world where I'm heading then maybe you have some pointers for me?" He offered to them, but his ancestor just smiled at what he heard.

"Where would the fun in that be? I think you should learn as you go. So long." Sir Aaron informed before the two of them faded away. Ketchum then focused on the other end of the tunnel before seeing that the walls had moving images on them.

"What are all these about?" Ash asked as he viewed them all. It was a timeline of sorts, but he couldn't make heads or tails about it. The images were: an orange haired youth becoming a hero, accepting the job, battles with two friends of the hero, a Brock-like creature in the hero's body, a solo fight, a strange team-up, an arrogant bowman and his challenge, the challenge unlocking the friend's special powers, teamwork defeating an army and a giant, but the last shots showed Ash that the raven haired girl in the previous images seemed to be conflicted about what's going on around her. 'Looks like this is the end of the line.' The hero thought before the portal spit him out.

'I just hope fate knows what it's doing.' Sir Aaron thought as he watched the portal close behind the modern hero even though he had his doubts. Ash saw the portal had closed, and knew that there was no way to reverse that, so he decided to focus on where he was.

'Now what?' The monster tamer thought as he stood in an alley in the dead of night. The sound of a groan of pain reached his ears, and the hero went racing in that direction. When he got to the battlfield he saw two men in black, the black haired girl paralyzed with fear, and the bowman down on the ground.

"Well, well, looks like you were nothing but talk." The red haired man commented to the fallen warrior.

'Renji's strong. He's even stronger than before. I can't move. Let alone - stop him.' The raven haired one thought as she watched the fight that just happened. Ash, who's presence was still unnoticed, prayed that this would be end peacefully, but he had his doubts.

"Now then, let's finish this off, shall we? Remember this as you part this world - Renji Abarai: is the name of the man who killed you." The swordsman said to the down warrior.

'This is the part I can live without.' Ash thought before charging onto the battlefield and delivered his hardest, aura infused, punch to the attacker's right side. "Picking on a fallen warrior is seriously not cool." Ash said to the swordsman before putting up his dukes.

'Who is that?' The girl and fallen one thought as they saw this hat wearing human defending them. The silent one on the other hand had a different thought in mind.

'Different in hair, outfit, and speech, but not in face or actions.' The raven haired swordsman thought since he could place the face, but decided to remain silent about it.

'Geez, doesn't anyone in this town sleep?' Renji thought out of anger before focusing on the foe before him and could tell one thing for certain, 'He's not the one who stole my friend's powers.' He thought before speaking, "Hey, who the hell are you?" Ash heard him, but decided to go with a cover story instead of the truth…at least for now.

"I am Ash Ketchum a Boxing nomad who often steps in when seeing something bad going down. Seeing someone take advantage of a frightened girl and fallen warrior is part of the list." The new comer explained which only seemed to anger his foe even more.

"Well, I don't like meddlers, so get lost." The red haired one called out, and received a 'no' head gesture as his answer. "Have it your way kid." The attacker said before starting up again, but soon realized that this guy has skill.

'Man, this guy is seriously angery about something.' Ash thought as he dodged a few swords swipes. 'Still, I can't let him harm these two.' Ash thought as he glanced over to the two behind him before retaliating with a few swift punches.

'Geez, this kid's good. I might have to use my power against him.' The opponent thought as he followed the kid up the hill they stood beside, and swung at the invader. The boxer dodged the strike and saw the steel bars of the fence meant nothing to that sword.

'Gotta go for distance.' Ketchum thought before picking up the cut pieces of metal and chucked them at him while racing away. The first one he deflected to the street below and chopped all the others even more.

'He's not bad, but enough messing around. We've got a job to do.' Renji thought as the two returned in between the bowman/girl, and other swordsman. He was about to get serious until he saw the ground beneath him begin to glow. "Who in hell's name are you?" The red head questioned after leaping and landing away from the small explosion.

"Name is Ichigo. I'm the one who's going to beat your ass. How's it going?" An orange haired youth commented to the red head. This caused all to take notice to this new comer.

"A Shihaksho? I don't know you. What squad are you from?" Renji questioned the new comer since he was wearing their uniform. "Ha, check out that over-sized Zanpakto." He stated as this latest foe drapped his sword over his shoulder.

"Oh yeah. So, your saying I got a big one, huh? It's funny - to tell you the truth I've been thinking this thing looked kind of big next to Rukia's blade, but you know I got to say up until now I haven't had anything else to compare it to." Ichigo explained to his opponent.

'Wait, during his personal battle that I saw in the tunnel - wasn't there a swordsman with a hat?' Ash thought, but decided not to say anything about it since this seemed like a really intense moment.

'The size of it reflects the Soul Reaper's Spirit Energy. How did a snot nosed little brat get a sword that size? Is he for real?' Renji thought since that was one of the first thing he learned at the school.

'Ichigo, you fool. Why did you come?' The girl thought with her eyes filled with fear. Her fear did not go unnoticed as her old friend caught onto it.

'So, the fist fighter really is only a good samaritin. I need to focus all my anger on that one.' Renji thought as he looked at Ash and then at the new comer. "Oh, I get it! You're the lowly human who took Rukia's powers, aren't ya carrot-top." He stated to the new guy.

'So, this again.' Ichigo thought as he recalled the last guy that brought this up. The girl in question was a bit alarmed that he figured it out so quickly. They all watched as the red head jumped over Ash and started attacked the new challenger.

"Come on! Come on! What's wrong?! Is this big sword just for show?" Renji questioned as he continuously struck the sword that the holder was using as a shield.

"Back off!" Ichigo shouted and went with a downward thrust which was dodged and they all saw the attacker strike the orange haired one's right shoulder.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted in alarm and wanted to aid him, but was stopped by the bowman.

"Don't go." He wheezed before passing out again. She looked down at him with concern, but knew that he had a point - she was a civilian at the moment: not fit for combat.

"It's over. Very soon you'll be dead, and Rukia will get her powers back, and then Rukia will go back to the Soul Society to die." Renji explained to the energy sucker and the goodie two shoes.

'To die.' Both heroes thought in awe after hearing that, and neither of them liked it one bit. Renji then explained that the young woman in the area tried a self sacrifice move, but Ichigo ruined it by showing up, and then he started to boast.

"Just what did you think you could accomplish here. Your not a Reaper - you're a fake. There's no way you could hurt a real Soul Reaper. You couldn't even land a scratch on one of us." Abari commented before a slash, inches away from his face, came at him in a downward thrust.

'He opened himself up to that.' Ash thought with a mental smile about what he just saw.

"Sorry about that. I know you were in the middle of saying something, but you left yourself so wide open. I apologize, why don't you continue. Were you saying something about a scratch." Ichigo stated to the opponent, and knew what he meant - the shaving cut on his chin.

"You punk." The red haired one replied back while rubbing away the spot on his chin. Ash could tell that this guy wasn't going to take that blow lightly, so he stepped along side Ichigo.

"Consider me back-up." Ketchum offered while lighting up his fists with aura, which seemed to be acting on its own, but Ash could care less about that at the moment. 'Something must be up since I know my aura fists hit his ribs and sides at full force, but he's still fighting at peak performace. Is he holding something back' Ash thought and did not like that thought one bit.

"You let your guard down, Renji." A voice spoke behind the opponent causing all to take notice to the silent one in the distance. "This young man here - Ichigo Kurosaki: I believe I've seen him before. There was a report from the Secret Remote Squad he dealt a Menos Grande quite a serious blow and forced it back to Hueco Mondo as well." The Captain explained which caused Ash to recall that scene in the tunnel.

'So, that's the name of that giant. Oh man, I pray that a Menos was not the thing Bill was trying to befriend that day on his lighthouse.' Ash thought with concern before going back to the battle before him.

'What's this guy laughing about?' Ichigo thought as the red haired warrior began to laugh over what he had heard.

"You've got to be kidding me. Man, the Secret Remote Squad must really be slipping these days. This kid wounded a Menos Grande. Who in their right mind would believe that load of crap! I mean - look at him captain, and that Zanpakto. It's nothing but an oversized piece of junk. He obviously can't control his Spirit Energy. So, tell me: what is the name of that monstrosity?" Renji commented and questioned to the warrior before him.

'Hmm? Name?' Ash thought to himself since he knew there were Trainers that nicknamed their creatures - there was even a rater of names in Lavender Town; at least that's what he's heard. 'But to name a sword?' The aura user thought and did not see the logic in that.

"Huh? What's it's name?" Ichigo questioned the more experienced fighter.

"You didn't even ask; did you?" Renji commented back as he took a break from the fight to find out just how much this kid knew of their culture.

"What? You mean Rukia?" The sub questioned and then realized something that he had to comment about, "Wait. Are you telling me that all of you guys name your swords?" It was then that the more experienced one now knows the sub knows next to nothing of their culture.

"I knew it. Your not even able to ask your Zanpakto it's name, and you really think you can fight me as an equal? Come back in two thousand years." Renji said before transforming his sword to a totally different form.

'Didn't see this coming?' The two thought as they saw the transformation, and didn't know what to make of it.

"Roar, Zabimaru! Now, open your eyes. See what lies before you. And fall upon your prey." Renji said as he leapt high into the air. Ash saw this and felt his aura flow up to his elbows, and after feeling that he stood before Ichigo to try to defend him. Sadly the enemy blade bypassed both heroes defenses and seriously wounded their left shoulders.

'Man, you don't get any of this personal damage in a Poke`mon battle.' Ash thought before feeling even more pain as Renji pulled his sword back which caused them even greater harm.

"It's over, you little runts. You lost to Renji Abarai, and will die where you stand." The more experienced one said to the two wounded warriors before him.

'Am I really this weak?' Both warriors thought as they fell to their knees and Renji stood over them in triumph.


	2. Chapter 2

Bleach is from TV Tokyo

Ash, and other characters from Pokemon is from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Chapter 2

Heroes die

Both men fell to their knees out of pain at the blood continued to pour out. 'Never get this hurt back home. Then again we let creatures of various types, sizes, shapes, colors, and genders do our fighting for us.' Ash thought to himself as he was wondering if leaping into this whole thing was a big mistake.

"Sorry it's ending this way, kids, but that's what's known as a difference in strength." The red haired man informed them while waving his serpent sword over his head. "That's because the zanpakto can change it's size and shape in response to the wielder's spirit energy. A flimsy peace of Living World metal had no chance against me, but still how do you two like my spirit energy?" He continued to explain and asked after recalling the extensions into one sword.

'Come on, Ash. Stand. You've got to.' Ash thought to himself since he believed with all of this guy's bragging about how awesome he was the out of towner could have landed at least one good blow. Sadly his body refused to move.

"Well, that's it kids. It's time for me to head out. I don't like the way the air smells here." Renji informed to the two as another insult to them. On the sidelines the female saw all of this and knew that her friend and the new warrior were outgunned.

'Now, Ichigo and the other knows there is a difference in their strength. It's made them realize there is no chance for either of them to win, and so they are backing down. That is my hope, but Ichigo will never give up. Neither will that other man. I know that.' The raven haired girl thought to herself as she gazed at the two on one fight.

"Ready?" The invader questioned the two of them as they still sat on their heels.

'If you two fools can still move than run. Please." The girl thought to herself in desperation since she did not want any blood spilled in her defense.

"No answer, eh?" Renji questioned aloud as he readied his sword for the final thrust. With no other choice she charged at him, grabbed his arm, and stood on his back all while ordering for the two to move. "What are you doing?!" The swordsman shouted in anger and surprise. "Let go of me." He ordered the powerless warrior, but she said nothing except for the two to run from this battle.

'He let down his guard, and she is just as spry even without her powers.' The observer thought to himself as he continued to watch the fight in a mute fashion. Back to the battlefield he was still trying to get his target off his back their struggle only stopped when they both saw that the duo had picked up their fallen weapons.

"But...but this can't be. You shouldn't have the strength left to move." Renji commented before feeling that Rukia wasn't pulling, so he threw her off, and focused on the two. "This will work out just fine. I've been thinkin it'd be a shame to finish off someone who couldn't move any more." He reasoned with his enemies even though a few moments ago he was going to end their non-fighting back bodies.

'I must fight.' Both men thought to themselves as they rose to their feet: ready for round two.

"I guess...the only thing left for you two is to fight hard and die." the pony tailed swordsman informed them while resting his sword on his right shoulder.

"Run! You must save yourselves. I'm begging you, Run!" Rukia shouted at the two men before feeling an unusual air around the two, and she suddenly became serious about the upcoming fight.

"What's wrong? If you won't attack then I will!" The opponent shouted out and that was when the unusual air between the two flared up causing the tie at the base of Ichigo's sword to blow up, and for half of Ash's poll shattered into a jagged side.

'Now things might get interesting.' The observer thought as he felt the raised power beside him.

'Their spiritual pressures are increasing? Impossible!' The cocky opponent thought to himself as he felt the balance of power beginning to shift. With his guard down the two went on the attack: Ichigo returned the shoulder slash while Ash used the jagged edge on the right side of Renji's stomach. "What the hell?!" He shouted in alarm before being force back with a swing from both men at the same time. The warrior used the railing beside the road to slow to a stop, and once he did the visor on top of his head fell off in two perfect halves. 'What is with those two? They were both ready to die just a second ago, so how the hell did they get that new found power?' Renji thought to himself with a dazed look on his face.

"I'll tell you exactly what wrong: it's just that somehow your moves have suddenly become a lot slower." Ash informed him as if knowing what their enemy was thinking at that moment.

'Idiot! Actually you two have gotten faster.' The red haired soldier thought to himself since he did not want to admit that to either of their faces.

"I don't know if this is happening to this other guy, and I don't understand what is happening to me, but I like it! I feel no pain from my wounds. In fact I feel totally invincible." Ichigo proclaimed proudly to their opponent. Having learned from some old friends not to back down from any threat Renji was the one to rise to his feet this time.

"Why you?! Zabimaru, time for you to roar." The snake sword swordsman shouted out and used his sword's special attack upon them. His first swing was deflected when Ash punched the flat side with his left fist. His second swing was mutually dodged, and his third was sent away by Ichigo's sword swing.

"Enough defense. We have to take them out to protect the other two." The raven haired bo-staff wielder informed before the two of them did just that – went on the attack.

'Renji's being overpowered. Incredible.' Rukia thought with a relieved smile on her face. The other raven haired warrior continued to watch this with attentive eyes.

'I might just have to step in.' The longer haired man thought as he did not like how an entry level swordsman and a club wielder were overpowering his second in command. Back on the battlefield Renji was becoming tired as the battle went on until he took a knee before them.

"You're awfully good at dodging our weapons." Ichigo pointed out to the attacker with a smug smile.

'What's happening?! How much higher can their spirit energies go!' The soldier thought with great alarm as he felt their power increase again.

"You put up a good fight, but it ends now." Ash informed him as he and the orange haired man leaped into the air for a final strike of their own.

'Can't move.' Renji thought in alarm as he tried to lift his sword to defend, but his arm refused to cooperate. The others watched the last attack of this fight in action. 'Not enough time!' Renji thought out of pure panic, and it wasn't his pride of loosing to this guy that was the last thing on his mind. It was falling in battle before his friend since he knew of her past incident. However right when the final blow was struck...nothing happened.

"Our weapons." The two of them muttered in mute surprise as they saw that more than half of their weapons were gone.

"But he didn't do anything." Ichigo stated as the man before them. The club warrior glanced over his shoulder at the warrior that had just been standing there this entire time.

"Was he the one?" Ash questioned while keeping his eyes on the other one. Ichigo heard him and also turned his attention to the other one as well.

"Impossible. He couldn't have from that distance." Ichigo pointed out to him, but as soon as he said that the two of them saw that he was holding the missing parts to their weapons in his hands. That alone got their attention.

"Get ready." Ash stated as he and Ichigo were ready to fight with what little sword they had left the instant he had his hand on his sword. However all either of them saw was him holding his hilt, something stabbing them, and someone stopping behind them.

'What just happened? Did he cut me? What's more: if he did – I can't tell if I was hit from the back or the front.' Both warriors thought as they were ready to kiss the pavement before them, but something was wrong.

"You are slow. Even when you are falling." The other swordsman informed the two as they fell to both sides of him. He heard the desperate plea from his target, but he had a mission to complete, so he attacked again.

'It's been a while since I've seen it, but he's truly awesome. Better pay more attention. I barely even saw his second attack coming, but his first one – I couldn't even tell when he drew his sword let alone when he put it back, but one thing's for sure if I couldn't see it coming I'm absolutely neither of these guys have the slightest clue what just happened to them. Regardless of that there is still the matter of that extraordinary spiritual pressure that they demonstrated earlier.' The nearly fallen soldier thought about all that had just happened in this battlefield.

"What's the matter, Renji?" The savior of the other attacker questioned a loud.

"I didn't really need your help dealing with either of these guys, captain." Renji informed back while keeping his gaze away from his savior. "There was no reason for you to interfere. I could have handled this myself." He added to his earlier statement which the other seemed to accept.

"Come now, Renji. Even I will get rusty if all I ever do is watch. Do you agree?" The other informed and questioned to the other since he knew that his second had a warrior's spirit when it came to battle thanks to the others.

'No. These two are different. They must be.' Renji thought to himself and a part of him knew that there was more to these two than meets the eye. His thoughts were interrupted by his old friend's voice.

"Ichigo! Ash!" Rukia shouted in sheer terror while running up to the two of them. "No!" She shouted out and raced over to the two of them as quickly as her borrowed skin would let her.

"No! Don't!" Renji shouted out in alarm as he got up, raced to her, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her into a street sign.

"Renji! Let go! Let me go!" Rukia shouted out as she tried to fight his grip

"What does it matter now, you fool. They are already dead." He informed her by shouting which calmed her down a bit even though he didn't wish to use that word since she seemed to care for this individual just like the other one.

'They can't be.' Rukia thought as she glanced over at the two fallen on the road.

"Listen! If you so much as touch either of them they'll add twenty years to your sentence. Besides Rukia you'd only be increasing your sins for someone who's died." He explained to his old friend, and saw that she was only becoming even more sad.

"I got them involved in all of this. It's my fault that Ichigo and Ash are dead, so what the hell is wrong with me going to them!" Rukia shouted back at him which caught the gripper off guard. The third one heard all of this and decided to speak.

"So, even if it made your sentence harsher. You truly feel you should help them. Is that what you're saying to me?" The third man stated and questioned while realizing the raven haired one had acquired the others special talent of making friend's instantly.

"I am brother." She openly admitted, and knew what was going to be said next.

"I understand, Rukia. This young man bears a striking resemblance to him. The same for the one called Ash." He informed, but had a feeling that he lost her after the first part. It was at that moment that Ichigo grabbed their latest attacker with his right arm, and Ash grabbed him with his left arm as a pitiful way to keep him there.

"He's dead, you say. Bears a striking resemblance to him. I'd rather you quit talking to me like I'm not even here. Got it?" Ichigo stated to the group before him with a broad smile on his face while Ash remained silent.

'So, this guy has met Sir Aaron. Interesting.' Ash thought to himself before hearing with their latest attacker was saying.

"Let go." The active warrior warned them both.

"Sorry. Didn't quite catch that. Try looking at me when you're talking." Ichigo threatened to him with a silent nod from Ash. This caught both of the others attention of their fighting spirit.

'Those two can still move, but that's impossible.' Renji thought as he felt some of his brain incapable of comprehending what he was seeing.

"I see. It looks like you won't be needing those arms." The brother stated to them, and planned on doing just that.

"Bring it on. I'll still take you on with my right arm." Ash informed him, but before anything could be done by any of the men on the field Rukia rushed over and kicked both of their hands away. This caught all of the conscious men off guard.

"Rukia, what are you doing?" The more experienced of the two warriors questioned in surprise to the one he wished to save.

"You two are only human." Rukia said coldly while trying to block their time together from her mind. "You are just lowly humans. How dare you grab my brother like that! You better learn your place." She shouted at them in anger, but Ash felt something else, but he couldn't place what even when she turned to look at them.

'Wait. Did she say brother?' Ash thought as he felt more of his blood seeping out.

"We should leave here now, brother. The actions these fools have just taken have opened my eyes to the truth. I am ready now. Take me back to the Soul Society." Rukia stated in a dead serious tone. "It is time that I atone for my sins." She added to her previous statement.

"Rukia, you can't leave here, yet. I mean our work isn't finished." Ichigo said to her, praying that she would hear him. "Rukia..." He started to say something else, but the other had placed his foot on his head. Ash laid there: not saying anything, just watching.

"You don't know when to give up. Do you?" Renji questioned as he did his best to make sure that the other remained on the ground. "Look, the more you move around the quicker your going to find yourself dead." He explained to the hard to kill warrior.

"I see no need to inflict a final blow upon them now. Leave them be. Soon enough they'll die on their own. We should go now brother." Rukia informed and was about to walk off, but was stopped by her closest friend in the world of the living.

"Rukia, stop. Look at me. Is this some kind of a joke?" Ichigo asked her, but got no response. "Hey!" He shouted out, and when that didn't work either he started to rise.

"Don't move." She shouted out in anger causing the one in question to do just that. "Take even one step. Or try to come after me, and I'll...I'll...I will never, ever forgive you." She said while looking at Ichigo and then added, "Or you." As she turned to look at the other savior. "You two are going to die, so why not stay put and live a few seconds longer." She finished her statement before turning her back to them.

"All right. I will not inflict a finishing blow. With my two attacks against them. I have shattered both their soul chain and soul sleep. There's no point in finishing either of them off. They should both die in less than an hour. Even if they survive this attack. All of the Substitute's powers will be lost, and any chance of the other being a threat will be zero. Both their special powers and their spirit energy. Renji." The older brother informed them before going back to their mission.

"Yes." He responded before getting up, walking over to the others, and stuck his sword into...nothing. "Now, open." He ordered and just like that two pairs of wooden dojo doors appeared before them along with something else.

'What's the deal with those tiny black Butterfrees?' Ash thought out of curiosity while Ichigo delved into self pity as the two of them lied in the street. Eventually their bodies became heavy, and they succumbed to sleep not knowing someone new was coming toward them.

'What have we here?' The new arrival thought as he stood over to two warriors. Soon the both of them felt strange...a good kind of strange.

'It doesn't hurt. Oh no. Am I about to die. I probably don't feel pain because I am on the verge of death, but is that right. At first my body was so cold, but now I feel warmth. It's warm.' The two thought as one, and eventually they woke up.

'Hmm, is this a sneasel.' Ash thought before adding, 'No. It's just a normal cat.' He had seen normal creatures back home such as some normal fish at the Cerulean City, so seeing a normal cat was no surprise. Just as soon as he was about to pet it a very loud scream was heard from beside them. The surprise was so great that the cat fled from Ash's chest.

"Oh, what a good reaction. Quite excellent." A strange man under Ichigo's covers said as he closed the distance between his and Ichigo's faces. The other man under the covers started to push his face away.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The orange haired fighter questioned with great rage in his voice.

"Boss, you wanted to know the moment Ichigo and the other woke up. Well, they're awake." The older man shouted out causing the boy in question to recall his fight with all of those hollows along with that titan, and this man was there too.

"Wait a minute. You work for Mr. Hat-and-clogs, don't you? Why are you under the covers with me? Get off!" Ichigo shouted out and eventually got the older man off of him along with his cover. The two then sat up and took a good look around.

"Any ideas where we are friend? Because I'm a little new here." Ash informed him while looking around.

"I'm more surprised that we aren't dead, and as for where we are, I have no idea." Ichigo said.

"Really?" Ketchum questioned back.

"Yeah, I mean this doesn't even look like my small clinic that I call home." The orange haired man replied back. As the two scanned the small room, curious as to where they were the thrown man could only think.

'How is it that Yoruichi could do it without incident, but I can't.' It was then that the door before them opened.

"Ichigo and friend you guys just need to relax. We were barely able to patch the two of you up. If you move around too much. You'll die." The blonde haired man before them informed the two wounded men.

"Is that right?" Ichigo questioned to them as he kept up his guard.

"Thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it." Ash stated as he rose to his feet, and stuck out his hand which the fan carrying man accepted. "The name is Ash Ketchum." He added while thumbing to himself, but before the other could truly introduce himself he was interrupted by Ichigo.

"So, Mr. Hat-and-clogs I take it this is your house?" Ichigo questioned and received an un-huh for his question. "Are you the one who saved us, huh?" He asked while keeping an obvious edge in his voice.

"It seems to me by the underlying tone in your voice maybe you didn't want me to rescue you." The other hat wearer in the room commented, and with that the two of them recalled the last few moments of the fight.

"Hey, hold on. There was another guy over there too." Ash informed causing the other to know what he was talking about.

"You're right Uryu. Where is he? Is he all right." Ichigo stated and questioned to the man before them.

"I treated Uryu at the sight, but then he went home. He really did loose a considerable amount of blood, but his wounds weren't as serious as either of yours. Even if he laid there for a couple of days I don't think he would have died. So, after I cleaned and dressed his wounds he went home." The owner of the building informed them and then added something else. "When he left he was worried for you two." This touched them both.

"That was nice of him." Ash said with a big smile on his face since it always filled him with joy when someone was concerned for another.

"Uryu was worried. No way." The swordsman of the two commented back since he did not believe that the bowman would truly show concern for his type.

"I asked him to consider resting here a while, so that he could regain his strength..." The older man started to say and then repeated what the other man said during that small shower.

"Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but really I'm...I'm fine. Please, just take care of Ichigo and Ash. Because it's pretty apparent that if there's anyone to defeat those guys it certainly is not me." The Uryu of last night faded as the man finished the last sentence in the present.

"The only ones who can save Rukia is the two of you. So, he said." The man stated which touched the two of them differently.

"He said that. Then I won't let this Uryu person's faith in me go to waste. I promise I will save her." Ash proclaimed proudly which got a smile out of the man in green.

"Only us? Heh, what the hell can we do? Don't either of you get it. Rukia's gone back to the Soul Society, so how are we supposed to go after her? How are we supposed to save her? It can't be done. I can't do it!" He shouted, completely believing his own words.

"Do you really believe that?" The blonde one questioned to the doubtful one. "There is a way into the Soul Society." He informed the two of them which got their attention.

"There really is a way?" Ash questioned with a big smile on his face since that had encouraged his hope even more.

"How? You have to tell us." Ichigo ordered as he strained to rise to his feet.

"Of course I'll tell you guys, but only under one condition." Their informant stated and then that is what got their guard up. One of them asked the 'what?' question, and the man continued. "For the next ten days you two will study with me and let me teach you how to fight properly." He informed them which did sound like a plan.

"Makes since. I'll need to learn something other than swinging a club around." Ash stated out loud before thinking, 'Even though something inside of me knew the ways of a swordsman.' His thought ended just in time to hear Ichigo.

"Maybe this guy can stay and study, but I don't have time to waste training with you. I don't need to waste that kind of time, okay? Rukia is gone and she could be executed at any second, so we've got to get to the Soul Society as soon as we can." Ichigo shouted out at the two of them, or more precisely – Mr. Hat-and-clogs.

"Why don't you understand, huh?" The blonde man questioned as he placed his cane on the young man's head. With ease he had Ichigo on his back, and his cane's tip inches away from the young swordsman. "Don't act so dumb. If either of you two go down there now you'll die." He informed the short tempered one.

'Is that a sword I see?' Ash thought to himself as he could have sworn he saw a sword where the cane was, but the image faded away.

"You think you can beat them? You honestly believe that you can take them? I went ahead and let you fight them and let you prove a point. I figured you'd understand results better than words. My hope was that you would learn your lesson. With the combined strength of you and Ash neither of you will be able to do much once you enter the Soul Society." He informed the two of them.

'Really?' Ash thought as he became slightly worried after hearing that.

"Right now you two are weak, and any time a weak person enters the enemies den it's basically suicide. So, the two of you want to save Rukia? Don't make me laugh. If you two get yourselves killed there will be no one to blame." He continued to explain to them which only got Ash fired up.

"Well, I always spend time teaching my Pokemon a new move and improving it, so now it's time to feel how that feels for myself." Ketchum proclaimed proudly to the others. None of them noticing that the cat had returned to the room.

"The Soul Society has a one month waiting period before an execution. Usually they respect their own rules. Let's hope that's the same for Rukia's execution." The owner of the building said to the you others.

"Hope so?" Ichigo questioned to the standing man.

"There is always hope in any situation, Ichigo." Ash said to him with a big smile on his face even though Ash was getting the feeling that this man knew more than he was letting on, but didn't question it.

"It's all together different than the way humans are executed. So, that gives me about ten days to torture you. Then seven days to open the gate to the Soul Society. Then we'll have thirteen days once we get there to get the job done. So, we've got lots of time." He informed them of the time schedule that they had to get through.

"Will we get strong enough in ten days?" Ichigo questioned as he could still picture Rukia entering those dojo doors.

"Yes. So long as you two truly wish to save Rukia from the bottom of your hearts. Your will must be stronger than steel. You must abandon any doubts that you have. Ten days to prepare for a game of life and death." The other man informed almost testing if either of the two will back down.

"Do we really have a choice?" Ichigo questioned to the man before them.

"Let's get to work." Ash informed the others with a serious look on his face while Ichigo had one thought to describe what he felt right now.

'I feel as though the rain has finally stopped.' After a few moments the cat in the room finally called out in it's native tongue – happy that these two still wanted to fight.


	3. Chapter 3

Ash and any other mentioned Pokemon is from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Bleach is from TV Tokyo

Chapter 3

Claim! The power of a Soul Reaper

With nothing else needed to be said the two went back to rest to prepare for the training that laid ahead. As the night hours passed Ash found himself becoming restless, so he got up and decided to talk to the blonde haired man for a bit. 'Now, where would he be?' Ash thought while slowly standing up, and headed out the door. After five or so minutes of looking around Ketchum caught sight of the man that he was looking for. "Sorry for interrupting...whatever it is you are doing, but I have a question." Ash stated as he walked over to the owner of the building.

"You're not interrupting anything, Ash. What's your question?" The man informed at questioned back to the out of towner.

"I get that Ichigo needs to reclaim his swordsman powers to save his friend, but I was using a metal club in that fight." Ash informed him of what he used in the fight before adding, "I am all for training, but why would I need to strengthen my spiritual self?" The other man gave a light chuckle before looking right up at the youth.

"I'm giving you this trial because of the way you handled that metal club in the second half of the fight. You fought that Soul Reaper as if you have always wielded a sword." The man pointed out which only confused Ash even more since he had never really picked up a sword nor has he ever caught a blade class Pokemon either.

"Thanks for the compliment. By the way, earlier today you never did tell me your name." The monster tamer pointed out. This caused the other man to stand from his computer and shake Ash's hand.

"Kisuke Urahara, proud owner of this quaint little shop you are currently in." The man said proudly while opening his hand fan and placing it in front of half of his face with his free hand. There was something that caught his eye on the computer.

"What that?" Ash asked, but was blocked by the older man who still held a smile on his face.

"Nothing major Ash. Just head back to bed. Trust me you will need all of your strength for the challenges that lay ahead." Kisuke instructed which Ash took to heart, and after saying good night the trainer raced back to bed.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" A black cat, that often visited the shop, asked Kisuke as he continued to type on his machine.

"After that last fight I believe Ichigo will need someone to talk to, so why not a fellow swordsman?" The owner questioned back to the cat which had to admit that he did have a point. "Besides since Ash will be living here for a while I think it best that Ash go to school, so Jinta doesn't have someone else to do his chores." He added, and again he did make sense since the boy in question did shirk responsibility often.

"I just hope Ash knows what a school is and does." The cat pointed out since they knew next to nothing about this guy aside from the fact that his face reminds them of someone from the past.

'Okay, Ash, enough excitement. Back to sleep.' The trainer thought to himself before fading into dream: his dream was...odd, yet entertaining. Several hours later the raven haired youth sat up fully refreshed and ready to face the day. "Okay, Mr. Urahara, I'm ready to start training." Ash proclaimed once he got back into the room he saw the owner in last night, but the protector of Pallet Town got a weird feeling once he entered the room.

"No training, Ash. At least not yet. Instead, I decided that you need a different type of training." Kisuke informed which caused the trainer to get confused since the only kind of training that he knew of was that of the body.

"I'm still not following." Ketchum replied back to him while scratching his head in confusion.

"To put it simpler terms: your going back to school." The blonde haired man stated back which cleared some confusion, but there was still plenty left in his mind. Considering the last time that he ever went to school was back when he was ten, and even then the year was short due to his desire to be a Pokemon Master.

"Are you sure that that's a good idea. I mean I'm not that familiar about going to school." Ash informed the man. Not as a way to avoid this task all together, but to simply let him know that he may not be the best for this building.

"Don't sweat it. There will be a few others over there that will help you understand the lessons. Besides I think Ichigo will need a friend that was there on the battlefield." The shop owner shot back at the monster tamer which he had to admit that he did make a valid point, and deep down he was willing to try any challenge no matter what it may be.

"I'll give it a shot, and besides I am always willing to make others feel happy." Ash said with a big smile. Something was tossed at him causing the trainer to catch and look at it. In the young boy's hands...was a uniform.

"That is the school uniform. The school I put you in has a school uniform code." Kisuke pointed out when he saw Ash's confused expression on his face. The latest of the Ketchum bloodline understood that and went away to change. After a few moments he came out with their uniform.

"Sorry, but the hat stays." He informed seriously, but no sooner than he said that he felt something being strapped behind him – his backpack along with something being shoved into his right hand.

"That map in your hand has the address of the school I enrolled you in." The shop keeper commented which caused Ash to realize that that was what he was doing last night, but the trainer didn't like the feel of such a thing. "Don't worry. I kept your name the same. I just changed the part of you not being from a land inhabited by wild creatures of immeasurable power." He added while glancing up at the young warrior in question.

"How did you..." The trainer started to question, but was cut off.

"You're not the first traveler to come from that place." Kisuke informed which got to Ash again.

'Does he know about Sir Aaron as well?' The young one thought since he recalled that the tougher swordsman commented that he too knew of Sir Aaron as well which got Ash's attention.

"I'd love to explain on the how I know of your creatures, but you really must be going. School starts in about fifteen minutes." Urahara pointed out while pointing at the clock on the wall. Ash heard him, grabbed something from the table, and then raced for the door. 'Pretty fast. Just like he was.' The blonde man thought before returning to his meal. 'Of course if he was a bit patient I could have given him a lift into town.' Kisuke added to his earlier thought.

'Does this feel like dejavu or what?' Ash thought as he lightly jogged since unlike on that day the sidewalk around him was filled with people. Eventually he got there, and the teacher told him to write his name on the board: which he did.

"Welcome to the class, Ash. Please take the seat behind Ichigo." The teacher instructed which Ash nodded and walked over to the spot in question. As he did just that Ketchum saw that his fellow warrior was looking at one of the empty seats in a forlorn sort of way as he gazed at a desk to his right. A few hours passed, and despite not being in school for a few years Ash was able to understand what she was saying, and soon it was lunch time.

"Sorry, I'm a bit new here. Where do some of these guys eat?" Ash asked the teacher who proceeded to explain where everyone was eating, but where Ichigo ate caught his interest. Ketchum then headed to the roof, and he saw the orange haired youth sitting by himself. "Back at our fencing class we didn't properly introduce. I am Ash Ketchum." Ash said to the hidden swordsman which caught his attention.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." He said back before watching the hero sat in front of him. "So, that was a pretty interesting weapon choice during our last class." The self-pity man commented back as he went with the cover story that Ash made up on the fly. After that the two spoke of nothing until his close friends finished their food and left.

'Why was that titan staring at me?' Ash thought as he saw the tallest man in the classroom leave last, but not before looking down at Ash for a few moments. "Okay. They're gone. Now you can level with me." Ash instructed which the other nodded and said what he had been thinking of all day.

"It's just...nothing feels real to me now. Doesn't feel real here being at school. When we were beaten up and nearly killed by those two guys from the Soul Society, and the strangest thing of all: is that she isn't here anymore. Not a single one of...our classmates remembers that Rukia ever existed." Ichigo's word's got Ash's attention, and he nodded in acceptance. Before more could be said the lunch bell rang, and the two went back to class. When they got inside...

"Bwah, ha, ha, ha." A strange laugh was sounded causing the hero from another world to look in that direction in an on edge style, but relaxed when he saw that it came from a different classmate.

"Are you still doing that stupid laugh?" Another boy across from the laughing one questioned calmly.

"You're just jealous because I can imitate the coolest guy on TV." The laughing one countered with his arms still crossed across his chest. Ash noticed that the titan was there, standing in between them – just standing there.

"Have you made any plans for over the Summer, Orihime?" A raven haired girl questioned an orange haired girl over in the corner. Ever since getting into school Ash had kept his guard up, in case there was another attack, but at the same time he could feel the friendship in the room, and knew that none of them had anything sneaky planned.

"Nope, I don't have a clue." The girl in question responded calmly and honestly, and that was when Ash saw a third girl practically jump into the conversation.

"Here's a great idea: you should spend the Summer at my house. My parents will be on vacation, so it will be just you and me." The new girl informed which got the raven haired one's attention. Even for a new student Ketchum could tell that she was up to something; just nothing as big as what happened last night.

"Oh, no you don't!" The raven haired one shouted out in anger as she got right into the new girl's face: knowing her true intentions all too well.

"Well, why not? It's not like I'm inviting her to take a bath with me." The third one countered with, but Ash was distracted when he heard Ichigo mutter to himself about his main problem.

"Is this what it means to return to the Soul Society? Just disappear from this world completely? You're erased from people's memories? Every trace of Rukia is vanishing right before my eyes. Fading away into white." The trainer could tell that the hidden swordsman was still reeling from this big lose. Before Ash could cheer him up he saw the teacher come in, and out of some sort of instinct he sat in his seat.

"All right, students. I only have one more assignment for you. Everyone try to get yourselves back here in one piece in September. Class dismissed. Have fun." The teacher informed them causing all to cheer in great praise.

'Hmm.' Ash thought as he noticed a second chair that was also empty, and figured that one was for Uryu. 'Too bad he is still nursing his wounds otherwise he could help me with Ichigo's attitude about last night's fight.' Ash added to his first thought; not knowing that his new friend was thinking the same thing. The out of towner watched as some new guy wrap a cloth over Ichigo's eyes.

"Ichigo! Around, and around, and around you go! Now, see if you can hit the watermelon." The new guy informed which caused the blind one to grab the offered stick and hit the one who blinded him on the head. "Nice try, but that was my melon." The man said as he felt physically and emotionally hurt after what his friend had done.

'Guess none of these other guys knows about Ichigo's other life.' Ash thought as he had a feeling that any level of swordsman would hit a target that loud: even if they were blindfolded.

"It's okay though because I don't need a head to think about anything anymore. School's out for Summer, and Summer means the sea, and the sea is where we're all going because I, Keigo Asano, planned a super trip for us to the beach. 10 fun filled days of: sunbathing, swimming, fireworks, food, and lots of questionable and unsupervised activities, right?" The one known as Keigo Asano informed them and then questioned to the others. All of them wanted to be a good friend, and hang with him, but they all honestly had something more important to do.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I made other plans. Like showing this new kid all around our town." Ichigo informed him first while gesturing to Ash who in turn gave his best 'sorry' shrug since he did not want to be the source of the brown haired one's downer.

"I'm not too keen on the ocean either, Keigo." Orihime informed him which really shot the invitor's plans down.

"I've got the Nationals tournament to go to." The raven haired one informed while flicking her left wrist back and forth.

"Well, if Orihime and Tatsuki aren't going then neither am I." A small brown haired girl informed him while feeling very shy about her reply.

"Sorry, but I have things I have to take care of." The tall man responded since he felt Keigo's eyes were on him next. Hearing all of this made the man sad which Ash did not like since he wanted everyone to be happy, but him helping Ichigo retrieve his friend was more important. The monster tamer was about to cheer him up until another student spoke.

"And I'm flying to Hawaii tomorrow." The new guy informed while placing a snorkel over his mouth which confused Ash since it boggled him why he brought such a piece of equipment to school.

"Gah! What could possibly be better than going on vacation with me, you jackass." Keigo shouted out at the latest one while shaking him. The man wanted a straight answer why his last friend did not want to spend the Summer with him.

"I'm going on this great trip to Hawaii with my girlfriend and nine of her friends, so that's like eleven of us." The raven haired boy stated with a big smile before realizing his blunder especially once he saw the look on his friend's face.

"Hawaii?! Just you and ten girls? So, how did you forget to invite me?!" Keigo shouted out and then chased him around the classroom angrily. With that distraction Kurosaki dragged Ketchum out the door. After leaving the school, and seeing that they were alone Ichigo continued to speak what was on his mind.

"It feels weird. Everyone's acting normal. Our world still rotates without Rukia." Ichigo explained to the new guy.

"I don't see why it shouldn't. I may be new to the party, but from what I get – she is originally from this: Soul Society." The monster tamer countered with while looking around – trying to tap into his aura power, but nothing.

"But what if that's true. What does that mean for me? Or should I say – us?" Ichigo questioned back while looking at Ash before offering him a knuckle bump which the trainer accepted. The two were happy that they were fast friends, but the question on both of their minds is, 'What do they do now?' Their thinking was interrupted by a new comer.

"And you are?" Ash asked pleasantly to the new comer. The new one was one of Ichigo's classmates: the orange haired one.

"Guess you didn't catch a lot of our names since your new in town, but my name is Orihime Inoue – nice to meet you." The young woman stated with a smile. Even without his aura Ash often went by gut instinct when it came to new comers and he didn't feel anything evil about her.

"Same to you." The trainer said back and then watched as she focused on the orange haired man before her.

"What are you doin? Is somethin wrong?" Ichigo questioned since he did not like the silence she was giving him.

"Ichigo, where is Rukia?" The cheery one said in a dead serious tone. This caught both of them off guard since that name was not sounded once throughout the entire school day. "Why has everyone forgotten about her? Like she never even existed? I need either of you to explain to me what's going on around here." Orihime questioned and stated to the two of them. Ketchum had a gut feeling that she knew some stuff, but decided to fill her the rest of the way in.

"Follow us." Ash stated and walked off with the other two following after him. The three remained silent as the walked over to a flight of stairs. "Ichigo will know a bit more than me. Ichigo fill her in." The monster tamer instructed before thinking of one thing, 'How is it that I had a lunch in my backpack? I guess it could have been Tessai. I never knew that sushi would taste so good.' As he thought of that the hidden swordsman filled her in on everything.

"So, your saying that Rukia went back to this other world she came from?" The innocent one questioned just to make sure that she heard her friend correctly.

"Yeah. I gotta admit I am surprised – I really had no idea that you can see us, Orihime? For how long?" Ichigo responded and asked since she seemed to be taking this all surprisingly well.

"Ever since the incident with my brother." She answered back and he knew what she was talking about instantly.

"Makes sense." He responded back to her since she was a spirit at the time, so she must not have been completely affected by Rukia's neuralizer.

"I don't think I've ever properly thanked you for everything you did for him. By guiding his spirit to the other side he's finally in a place where all he knows is peace and happiness now. Somehow I can just feel it." The little sister said to the two of them as she sat on the steps.

"Is that so?" Ichigo asked since he did like how his friend here could only look at the good side of a situation.

"Mm-hmm. I imagine Rukia is happy on the other side as well. She probably has friends and family waiting for her." The female of the trio stated and this caused the other two, the ones that saw one piece of her family, to recall said man.

'There must be a reason he acted so coldly last night.' Ash thought to himself as he recalled his countless encounters with the hard to read Paul. The trainer recalled of how drastically different he was compared to the other rivals, but was still very strong.

"I have to go and bring her back." Ichigo stated somewhat darkly as he recalled of how effortlessly he took them both out, and wanted a rematch.

"But, why should you bring her back if she's happy there?" Orihime questioned since she wasn't grasping the whole picture.

"Because I know she's in serious trouble and they might just kill her if we don't get her out in time." Kurosaki said back to her and became dead serious about his vow to rescue her. There was a silence among the three until the girl spoke out.

"Here's what the Ichigo I know would do." She stated causing at least one of them to look at her. "He'd make like a mad face and tell Rukia she can always visit her friends and family later if she lives, but she won't have the choice if she's dead." She explained which caused the man in question to glance over at her.

'I guess I would say that...if there wasn't this whole execution thing that hat-and-clogs was talking about.' Ichigo thought before hearing what else she had to say.

"I bet you've already. Haven't you?" She asked her old friend since she had a feeling that Ash was lost in thought at the moment.

"You really were here. I know that. You belong here, Rukia." Ichigo muttered to himself before standing upright. "Thanks a lot, Orihime. Hey, day-dreamer, time to go." Kurosaki shouted out which caused the trainer to click back to reality since he still had no clear idea of why a brother would act like that.

"I wasn't day-dreaming." The out of towner shouted out as he ran after his new friend. The long haired one watched them run away, and hoped that she did a good thing.

"Chad?" Orihime questioned once she saw the silent giant stand beside her with him also watching the two run away. Unknown to any of the four the black cat from the shop was working on a plan of her own as she gazed down at the two lone friends. At the Kurosaki home an...interesting conversation was taking place.

"I still can't believe that Ichigo would take off on a Summer vacation, and leave the rest of us behind." A young blonde haired girl stated as she was fixing up the table for Supper.

"Grow up, Yuzu, he's always taking off." A raven haired girl responded while reading the newspaper. That activity was short-lived when as an older raven haired man peeked above the paper.

"We don't need Ichigo to have fun. Why don't you have a round of Truth or Dare with your dear ol` dad." The father of the three shouted out, and his response was a rolled newspaper down his throat.

"You're so weird. Couldn't you act a little bit more like a grown-up?" The newspaper reader shouted out since she often did not know why her father acted the way he did.

"Oh, it hurts me seeing you to fight." Yuzu informed them and didn't know what to do in cases such as these.

"Not half as much as it's hurting me. I can tell you that." The father garbled out as he could feel the paper at the back of his mouth. In the Soul Society the situation was steadily getting worse.

"Good Morning, Lieutenant Abarai, sir." A pair of girls said to a familiar red haired man as he walking down the hall in a white/pink bath robe.

"At ease." He instructed the two of them and continued to walk. He made it to a big wooden door that he had the key for. He put it in, the item lit up, and he walked in. As he walked down this new hall the man of yesterday saw another Soul Reaper -acting oddly. "You still can't handle, hell butterflies?" He asked the weird boy after giving him a firm kick to the face.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know you were coming in today." The weird boy explained back while laying on the floor, and hoped that his icon did not see him try to seduce the insect he let go.

"I had to come in and check on the prisoner. Is she still insubordinate, and difficult." Abarai questioned even though he mostly came over to visit his old friend again.

"I'm not insubordinate." She said once she heard the voice of one of her attackers.

"If you're not insubordinate then why are you refusing to eat?" He asked her since he thought that she would be starving due to the famine she was pulling.

"Maybe I'm just not hungry. Does that bother you, Mister Litenate?" Rukia informed and questioned while being a little sarcastic with her old friend since she enjoyed how he reacted to some of her responses.

"So, you resent that I'm a lieutenate now, is that it? I can hear it in the tone of your voice." The old friend shouted back at her not knowing that this was the exact reaction that she was hopping for.

"Hit a nerve, did I?" She questioned calmly before continuing with, "Well don't worry, Mister _Officer_, now you have the rank, and the pompous attitude, and the weird eyebrows to go with it." She sarcastically stated the 'o' word, and could hear him growl as she talked about him that way, so she decided to switch gears.

"How dare you mock me?! I could kill you for an insult like that!" Renji shouted out at her with great rage as he held the bars to her cell.

"Tell me, something." She instructed which caused him to quell his rage...at least for now. "Am I really going to die, Renji?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Oh, absolutely. For what you did I expect you'll be executed immediately." He responded since he thought that she was still messing with him.

"Very well. I understand." She answered back and accepted the hand that fate had given her. A few moments passed by, and at that moment Renji realized what was going on.

"Hm? What do you mean you understand? I was just kidding, Rukia. It was only a joke." He responded back to her admitting that he thought that she was still messing with her.

"So, which one is it, you idiot?" She questioned back a bit miffed even though she knew that he really was just messing with her, but she wanted a straight answer.

"An idiot, huh? If I'm an idiot then how is it that you are the one locked up in the cell?" He questioned back to her before explained what he believed was going on at this moment. "You're pretty lucky, Captain Kuchiki is probably pleading for clemency even as we speak." She had to put a stop to that sort of thinking right away.

"Well, I doubt that." She whispered aloud even though she had a feeling that he did hear her.

"How could you say such a thing? A man like Kuchiki would not stand by and do nothing while his own sister faces a death sentence." He responded back to her, believing every word of it.

"You're quite correct about that." She responded before continuing with, "He'd rather kill me himself. I know it for certain because I know full well the kind of man he is. Forty years have passed since I was taken in by the Kuchiki Family, and in all those years he has not once looked at me." She could only close her eyes and recall all the times he looked in every direction except right at her. Back on Earth there was something going on.

'A ladder?' Ash thought to himself as he gazed at a ladder underneath a floor tile. Without question the group headed down the ladder to a rather large room.

"No way! This place is amazing. Who would have guessed that after all this time there was a huge subterranean training ground under my store." Kisuke shouted out in mock wonder which this even caught Ash's attention because this was something he would find back home, not in a somewhat normal town.

"Quit the act. Obviously you knew this place was down here, and I have to admit that this place is impressive." Ichigo commented to their coach with a rather offensive tone. Ketchum just kept looking around.

"So, you want to get started?" The blonde haired man questioned with a smug smile on his face.

"Sure thing, Mr. Urahara. We're ready to start when ever you are." Ash shouted back with a big smile on his face.

'Seriously, does this kid ever feel bad?' Ichigo thought to himself as he was cleaning his ear since as far as he has seen Ash doesn't get upset. Without warning, and blinding speed he used his cane to remove Ash and Ichigo's souls from their bodies.

'This is sort of what Haunter did to me all those years ago.' Ash thought to himself even though he wasn't blue like before and there was a chain connecting his physical body.

"What's the big idea of knocking us down like that, you..." Ichigo started to shout, but stopped when he suddenly didn't feel so good. The same for Ash as he tried to stand up, but even that was proving difficult.

"It's hard to breath when you're in the form of a soul. Isn't it, guys? Right now your soul sleep which is the well spring of your spirit energy, and your soul chain – the booster have been destroyed. So, now your soul is just like any other human: no spiritual power. Before we proceed we must first restore the spirit power you two have lost." Kisuke informed them which really helped Ash out since he had no idea what the heck was going on.

"All right already, just tell us what to do." Ichigo shouted out to their coach since he was still very anxious to get this over with.

"You are so impatient, Ichigo. Let's get out your opponent and then we can start." The hat wearing man informed before motioning his head to the left and shouted, "Warrior, are you ready for battle?" This got Ash to put up his guard, and out of instinct he reached for his belt until he realized that he was unarmed.

'Going to have to get used to that.' Ash thought before getting into a ready to fight stance.

"Nice to see you again, Ichigo...Ash." A young girl informed while holding something on a towel.

"Here's your first lesson: you must go against Ururu. If your really feeling brave then the both of you can take her on. The rules are simple: the fight is over when at least two of you are unable to continue. If I were to give some advice I would suggest going for the knockout punch." Kisuke informed the two of the rules, and to Ash they seemed pretty simple rules, so he nodded in acceptance, but the other had reservations.

"Are you kidding? You expect us to punch out a little girl?" Ichigo shouted back at him since to him she seemed to sweet to be a challenge.

"It would be very unwise to underestimate your opponent, Ichigo." Mr. Hat-and-clogs shouted back to the student. It was at this point that some protective gear was tossed their way. The little one informed that she wanted them to put it on since she did not wish to harm them.

"Well, you heard the lady – time to suit up." Ash informed as he was about to reach for his gear until he heard his fellow student speak.

"This is ridiculous. I'm not fighting her." That statement was all she needed to start their lesson which sent them flying.

"We tried to warn him, didn't we." The shop owner informed with a fan over his mouth since he was starting to enjoy his student's torture already.

"Hey! Where did they go? I don't see either of them anywhere?" The red head questioned as he looked around the cloud of dust that appeared after the first punch.

"Do you suppose they are dead?" The tallest of the three questioned calmly to the others.

"Hard to say." The shop keeper said back casually. Eventually they did see them come out of the cloud. With no prompting the two got up and raced off to her direction, but they seemed to have missed their target.

"Hey! Those two ran right past her." The child on the side lines shouted out as he, like the other two, was completely confused as to why they had done that. As they ran the both of them grabbed the head gear, and kept running.

"Little Miss Muffit punch us like that again we will be taking a long dirt nap." Ichigo pointed out as the two of them continued to run away.

"Mr. Urahara, how do we put this gear on anyways?" Ash shouted out since he didn't see any kind of buckles or Velcro on the strings.

"Quick! Strap the headband onto your forehead, both of you!" Kisuke shouted out causing the two of them to stop dead in their tracks and do just that.

"Like this?" They asked as one to make sure they were doing as he said.

"That's right, and then yell as loud as you can: Amazing Headband of Justice in place, Amazing Armor of Justice Protect me now! Go on, say that." Kisuke shouted out and like loyal students the two were about to do just that, but Ichigo stopped the both of them.

"That's just stupid!" The orange haired youth shouted out before feeling someone poke his shoulder. "What?!" He shouted in anger before seeing Ash calmly point upward, and the thing that he was pointing at was Ururu falling from the sky. Ichigo grabbed his discarded gear and ran off with the out of towner not to far behind.

"Interesting of how imminent death can change one's mind." The business owner commented as he observed the two of them run away from the little girl.

"I think we should say it." Ash offered to the other student which he reluctantly agreed to do just that.

"Amazing Armor of Justice in place, Amazing Armor of Justice Protect me now!" The two shouted out with the bands on their respective heads. It was at that moment that the two heard some quiet chuckling coming from the peanut gallery.

"Well, what do you know? I can't believe they actually said it." Urahara commented to his fellow watchers which caught both student's attention.

"What?! You're going to pay for that!" Kurusaki shouted out in anger.

"I don't know. I kind of like the sound of that statement." Ash said back with a happy smile which once again caught all of their attention since he didn't seem pissed off in any sense of the word over the little bit of humiliation.

"Pardon me, you two, but shouldn't you be running away." The tallest of the three informed them before pointing between the two of them causing them to see that their attacker was slowly coming closer to them.

"Bring it on." Ash said once the two of them had officially had their gear on. However even though they had the armor, and even though they were dodging her attacks there was still a huge power difference between the three of them.

"Amazing Armor of Justice my ass! More like Armor of Junk. Running for our lives is the only thing saving our lives!" Ichigo shouted out and his words hit a chord in Ash's mind about the reality of this situation.

"If we're out running her that must mean our spirits are getting faster, and if we can dodger her blows then that means we can take to the offense." Ash said to him which felt a bit of a stretch to the seasoned swordsman, but it beat running around all day. They turned to face her which surprised her a bit.

"Here goes." The orange haired one called out. The two waited and were able to dodge her strike.

'They've got it.' The three others thought with confidence as they watched the two punched back causing her to retreat. As they kept up the attack the two students shared a silent message to only tap her headgear to back away.

"Hammers of Justice!" Ash shouted out as he struck with his right arm and Ichigo with his left, They were hoping to follow through with their plan, but she dodged causing their punches to strike both of her face cheeks. The blows grazed her, but they were powerful enough to cut her.

'Enemies. Must destroy.' A voice within the young girl's head said to her. In the blink of an eye she was standing on Ichigo's outstretched fist and round-housed the two of them into a rock.

"Safe." Kisuke shouted out as he held up the kicked leg which the young girl looked around and wondered if she lost it again. The students were both still alive and were surprised that the big guy took the hit for them.

"Thanks for the save, Mr. Tessai." Ash stated as he and Ichigo rose to their feet. The blocker nodded in acceptance.

"Give us one more crack at her, please." Ichigo questioned since he wished to stay focused on the mission.

"Congratulations, I pronounce Lesson 1 – cleared." Their teacher informed them which surprised them since it didn't really feel like an accomplishment.

"What are you talking about? Ash and I got our asses kicked just now – we lost." The angered avenger informed him just in case he wasn't paying that much attention to what was going on.

"Actually I never said anything about having to win the fight in order to clear the lesson, did I?" Kisuke questioned to the two of them which caught them off guard. They both have been in their versions of fights where when they could no longer fight on – they lost, so this info was new to them. "The fact is guys, Ururu here has fighting skills to counter even fully fledged Soul Reapers. A mere human couldn't possibly beat here out right let alone two of them." He informed them of the power that they were up against in round 1.

"Really?" Ash asked as he looked down at the girl in question.

"Yeah." She answered back in a meek tone of voice.

"That's awesome!" Ketchum shouted out with a grand smile across his face. "Maybe once I get my powers back we can have a rematch, what do you say?" Ash proclaimed to her which surprised them all. The little one nodded in acceptance.

"By the way: are either of you having any trouble breathing?" Kisuke questioned which caused the two to realize that their spiritual selves were reacting normally.

"Now that you mention it..." Ichigo started to speak, but their lesson planner cut him off.

"Which means we successfully restored your Spirit Energy. The entire point of that lesson was to determine in a one shot battle whether or not you two could dodge Ururu's first attack." He informed them and once he saw that they seemed more confused he went into further detail. "Spirit Energy increases a lot faster when the soul is threatened of being destroyed. We just needed to find out if you two would raise yours fast enough to dodge that fatal punch." This only got one of them even more worried.

"And if I hadn't succeeded?" The orange haired one questioned calmly.

"Then you two would have died." He replied back in a blunt fashion.

"Why the hell didn't you say so in the first place?!" The substitute Soul Reaper shouted out angrily.

"Ease back, Ichigo. Mr. Urahara wouldn't have let that happen. He wants us to rescue Rukia, so why would he try to kill us?" Ash informed and then questioned which again the others noticed of how upbeat he was despite the fact that they were slammed into that stone tower.

"Ash is right. I had a lot of faith that the two of you would be successful." The blonde haired man stated which surprised Ichigo, but only encouraged Ash to try even harder on the next lesson. "Well, so far so good. Now then, let's celebrate the return of your guys' Spirit Energy shall we." He said calmly before an ax, wielded by Tessai came down on their chains – effortlessly cutting them from their physical bodies.

'Why the hell did he do that?!' Ichigo thought to himself as he tried to not pee himself of that ax scare attack.

"Now, let's continue with your second lesson." Kisuke instructed the two of them, and as he did that his old friend was rallying the other members of their party.

"Lessons?" Orihime questioned her four legged teacher even though she was trying very hard not to cuddle the speaker.

"You'll need them if you want to learn more." The cat commented back to them as they overlooked a section of the city.

"I suppose I do, but this all seems so sudden." The long haired one said back casually.

"Plus it's a little weird dealing with a talking cat." Chad informed them of how he was feeling about this whole thing. Despite the fact that he had to deal with a explosive toad launcher and a Soccer stomper.

"You think so?" Orihime asked back which that did not bug her at all. It was not the fight with her hollow that desensitized her to the talking cat – it was the shows that she watched and the Video Games she occasionally played; both animal themed.

"Your friends – Ichigo and Ash, are both preparing to go to the Soul Society. If you with to learn how to use the new powers awakening inside of you then you will have to agree to take my lessons. After that: the choice will be yours weather you go or not." The cat informed them and gave them a moment to think of their answer, but a moment was all that they needed.

"Well, I am going to go." Chad said while looking down at the shorter girl.

"Are you really?" The passive one asked just o make sure that she heard him right. "Aren't you scared? I am." She asked in a down-trodden tone and confessed as well. His only answer was a nod of the head.

"I won't force you." The feline said to them since the cat did not want to send them off if they were having doubts, but the girl nodded as well. With that they set off to see about another recruit to their cause.

'Excellent. This will be the perfect place to train in complete and total solitude.' The archer thought as he had went deep into the forest and was now staring at a beautiful waterfall.

"There he is. We found him." A voice called out from behind; a voice that the archer knew too well. "Hi, Uryu, what`cha doin?" The orange haired one in question shouted out as she was climbing some rocks and waving at the man in question.

"I could ask the same question, Orihime." He replied back while adjusting his glasses. "So, how did the two of you find me?" He questioned once they got closer to him.

"Yoruichi. He followed your aura and it led us right to you." She answered back while forgetting that the archer had no idea who the person she was talking about was.

"Yoruichi?" He asked with confusion and curiosity in his tone.

"Did you come out here to go camping?" The young woman asked since she was still a bit new as to what Uryu's special talent was.

"Not exactly." He replied back since that reminded him as to why he was out here in the middle of nowhere.

"You're training, aren't you?" A new voice questioned and that is when he got on the defensive.

"Who said that?" He questioned with an edge in his voice with his fists raised. The glasses wearing good guy quickly scanned the area, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary nor did anything feel out of the ordinary.

"I did. I'm right over here." The voice said causing the new guy to look at the third member of the female's party. "I'm Yoruichi." The cat informed which caused the archer to rightfully freak out.

"Aaaah! A talking cat? No Way?!" Uryu shouted out in complete alarm even though the other two were perfectly fine.

"What? You've never seen a talking cat before? Honestly, don't be such a wimp." The cat said in a serious tone since it believed that out of the four tows folk that knew of the other side it was expecting the archer to be okay with this discovery, but no such luck.

"You are kind of making a big fuss about this. What's the big deal?" Orihime questioned since she was perfectly okay with this since the first word uttered by their instructor.

"well, if it makes you feel any better Uryu I'm having trouble with a talking cat myself." Chad informed, to let his fellow student that he still hadn't gotten over this at all.

"Some people have such a hard time adjusting to the unexpected...especially the males." The cat mentor informed them which should have been a clue about the cat's true identity.

"Excuse me. Why did you come down here anyway?" The archer questioned to them since he wanted to: save face, get back to training, ditch the classmates all in one motion.

"Actually..." Orihime started to speak, and then spoke to her friend about all that had been going on up to this point...at least as much as she knew.

"Ichigo and Ash are planning on going to the Soul Society?" Uryu questioned since he wanted to make sure he understood the story correctly.

"Yes, they are both going to go over there to try and rescue Rukia. We thought you'd want to know so you could help them too." The optimistic one informed

"What those two swordsmen do has nothing to do with me." The Quincy informed them since he felt his pride starting to surface as he recalled the fight and the location in question.

"But what about Rukia her life is in danger." The classmate brought up their mutual friend: hoping that would be enough for him to help out.

"You're forgetting that I'm a Quincy and the whole reason I'm out here training is because I'm angry that I lost to a Soul Reaper. Rukia doesn't mean anything to me." He informed her in a dead serious tone.

"Too bad, but I know that you are only doing what you think is best, Uryu." Orihime stated after a long silence between the four in the area. He didn't get any negative vibes from her statement which confused the bowman. "It's completely confusing to me at this point, but I'm going to continue to listen and learn all I can about these changes that are happening. It's a little scary to have new powers awakening inside me, but I want to know what I can do with them." She informed him which still seemed like an honest and true statement.

'Well put, Orihime.' Chad and Yoruichi where mutually thinking before leaving the bowman.

"So long, Uryu." Orihime stated with a smile before following the other two out of the woods.

'Sorry to let you down, Orihime, but this training is too important. I can't let anyone see what I'm about to do. Please watch over me, sensei' Uryu thought as he opened a clasp on a box and opened it before being enveloped in a blinding light. Back at the shop: both of the students were pinned under the tall man before the next lesson could start.

"I...feel like...I'm dying...Ugh!" Ichigo called out as he really did feel like his spirit was becoming weaker.

"That's because you are. You see once the chain of fate has been severed you can no longer return to your physical body. Death comes quickly." Kisuke informed them casually.

"Oh, that explains a lot." Ash responded nonchalantly.

"Do you have to be so casual about it, and don't you know that that means Ash?" Ichigo called both of them out, and while he received a silent nod from Ash Kisuke went into an explanation.

"That's not even the worst of it. Your chains will begin the encroachment where it was severed. When the end reaches your chest you will become a Hollow and that will be the end of you." Urahara informed them and while Ichigo was nervous about it Ash felt a good kind of rush when he heard the stakes.

"What do we have to do?" Ash questioned since he wished to start Lesson 2 as soon as possible.

"If neither of you want to be a Hollow you must become a Soul Reaper." Kisuke informed them in a dead serious tone while pointing to them with a closed up hand fan. "If you manage to clear Lesson 2 you will find in the process you will have gained some incredible powers those of that of a Soul Reaper. Ha! Of coarse the path you choose is up to you." Kisuke informed them and with those two words said it brought Ichigo's confidence back to the surface.

"As if you needed to ask." Ichigo said back with a cocky smile evident on his face.

"All right, then." The shop owner said back as he readied his fan while saying, "Let's get this party started. GO!" Kisuke shouted out and just like that a hole appeared beneath them.

'Just like the good old days.' Ash thought with a smile on his face since this was a Team Rocket strategy, and he had confidence that he will get out in no time. The trainer thought that the teacher said something, but with Ichigo's ear splitting scream right next to him he was unable to hear it.

"What the hell have you done to us?" The seasoned swordsman of the two groaned out once the three of them had hit the ground. The moment they were fully aware of their surrounding they were having trouble moving their arms, looked past their shoulders and saw that they were bound.

"Bakudo 99 Part 1 – Restrict. No doubt you think it harsh of me. Until you have cleared this lesson. Both of your arms will unfortunately must remain bound." Tessai informed them with his hands in a weird stance and sitting far away from either of them.

"Ichigo! Ash!" A voice called out which caused the two to look straight up. "Start climbing up the shaft, guys. That's all there is to this lesson. Otherwise known as the Shattered Shaft." Kisuke informed the two of them as he opened up his fan to try to hide his smug smile from them even though they couldn't see that far.

"Yeah. That'll work with our arms tied behind our back!" Ichigo shouted back up in an angry tone of voice.

"I wouldn't waist time arguing about it if I were you." The shop owner informed them and that was when the two of them heard the noise of something eating.

"Hmm, fascinating, chain links with teeth." Ash muttered to himself and wondered if there was a pokemon that was a living chain since the closest thing to what he saw was an onix or steelix. Kurosaki on the other hand screamed at the top of his lungs at the sight of such a thing.

"You have a period of 72 hours guys. That is how long the chain of fate has before it is completely encroached. By the end of that time if either of you don't come to the top as a Soul Reaper then we will have no other choice, my students, but to kill you both." Urahara informed and Ash could tell there was a part of his teacher that wanted to see that outcome.

'I'll just have to prove myself to him.' Ash thought with a confident smile on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Ash, and any mentioned Pokemon is from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Bleach is from TV Tokyo

Chapter 4:

Ichigo becomes a Hollow, but what of Ash?

As Ash and Ichigo were dealing with their cylinder chasm Rukia was dealing with her own troubles in her homeland. "What? What did you just say, Captain Kuchiki?" Renji questioned to his leader while griping Rukia's cell bars for balance. "What do you mean?" He added to his first questions.

"It is as I said. Do I need to repeat my self? Twenty-Five days from now she'll go to the Central Execution Grounds where she will suffer the ultimate punishment. That is the final decision of the Soul Society." The man questioned and repeated what he had said earlier.

'This can't be. He is her sister – this has to be him actually pulling my leg...right?' Renji thought to himself as he was really trying to make heads or tails of any of this.

"This will be the last time that you and I will ever exchange words." The older of the two informed before walking away while slipping the note back into his outfit. "Rukia, the next time that I see you will be at your execution." He added before leaving the room to the two of them.

'We are taught never to shed tears. For to shed tears means that the body has been defeated by emotion, and to us: that simple act of crying – only proves, without question, that the existence of emotion is nothing but a burden.' Rukia thought to herself of an rule that the Soul Society had drilled into their skulls. Back in the land of the living Ash listened to what Tessai had to say.

"Lesson 2: Shattered Shaft." The tall man said as he held been sitting there with his hands in the same position as before.

"May I have your attention please?" Their teacher shouted out from high above them causing the raven haired one and the orange haired one to look up at him. "You have a period of Seventy-Two hours at the bottom of Shattered Shaft you two. That is how long it will take for the chain of fate to become completely encroached by the end of that time if neither of you have returned to the top of the shaft as a Soul Reaper then we will have no other choice but to kill you." Kisuke reminded them of the danger of this particular lesson.

"You bastard! So, you intend to kill us?" Ichigo shouted up at him. The blonde one was about to reply, but the other student spoke up first.

"Only if we fail this lesson. Come on, surely you have more hope in you then that." Ash said to him while still carrying that blue light within him. As the two sat there in the near darkness across town were a couple more of their party.

'It's official – Dragon Ball Z kills braincells.' Yoruichi thought as the feline had been watching the two students scream as loud as they could and motion their arms in the same way as the fighters did when they needed to power up. "You're both completely hopeless." Their mentor spoke out which caught their attention. "At this rate: I will never be able to let you into the Soul Society." Their mentor added which hurt them emotionally a little bit.

"Wait. That's not fair." Orihime informed the feline of how she felt about those words.

"Quit it. Stop whining. Unless you can activate your powers at will you will die like a dog in the Soul Society. Do you understand me?" The sensei informed them bluntly and then questioned to make sure that the words were getting to them. "It's not that hard. Just remember the first time you used your powers and retrace those steps." The teacher instructed to them in hopes that would get their training rolling.

"Well, that's easier said then done. I was so desperate that first time." The orange haired young woman informed the feline before her.

"What were you so desperate about?" The black furred beast questioned back which caught the girl off guard. "Think about it this way: a person picks up a sword when he's trying to protect something. Perhaps its your life, or social status, maybe a reputation, a loved one, or personal beliefs. The motives may be completely different, but in the end it is the same desire to protect something. Think back, what were you trying to protect when you first called upon your powers ?" The house cat informed and then questioned to the two young heroes.

"Let's see." Orihime stated while crossing her arms. The first time that she did such a thing was going so fast that she didn't really know what she was doing.

"Hmm?" Chad muttered out loud before thinking, 'I...I was trying to protect Ichigo's kid sister.' He then began to think of what the sister looked like. 'A red cap, long hair, and since she's Ichigo's sister – she looks like Ichigo, but she's still a girl.' He thought then added those images together to make him almost vomit outright.

"It seems you failed to remember." The feline pointed out before turning to the other one. "And what about you?" The cat questioned in an annoyed tone: expecting the same epic fail as with Chad just then.

"Well, I...I...uh...at that time." She began to answer, and then recalled her encounter with the squid-like hollow with that puppet power. "I was so desperate. So desperate." She muttered out loud as she recalled trying to talk her oldest friend to fight the fiend's influence.

"It shined." Chad informed her which caught the orange haired one's attention.

"Oh, really!" She shouted out with joy and just like that her hair clips split into six different creatures. "Hey, guys." She stated with a big smile on her face.

"You summoned. If you ever need us – don't hesitate. Just call on us for help." A small human like creature with blonde hair and a red kimono informed her before being kicked from behind by the brash warrior in black.

"But considering the situation. For what possible reason would you need our help." The black themed man with a white scarf over his mouth informed while gesturing to the human giant and the cat. He did feel a lot of power from the cat, but also knew that it meant no harm, so his argument still stood.

'Was that an insult?' Chad thought if the tiny creature was poking fun that he wasn't a threat.

"Cause that's our job." The informative one informed him: reminding him of their main purpose.

"I'm sorry. I was remembering all sorts of things. So then...ow!" Orihime tried to explain herself, but the aggressive one kicked her in the head out of rage.

"You weren't even in danger, and yet you called for us? You terrible little hussy." The black themed one shouted out and then proceeded to pull on her long orange hair which caused her to run away from him; not knowing that another one of the six were on her head – just enjoying the ride.

"Tsubaki, you stop that, right now." A purple haired one shouted out in Orihime's defense.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm pissed off." The puller shouted back at her in anger. This mostly ended up being annoying for others to watch with their teacher scratching itself on the ear to try to pass time.

"Well done, Orihime. Although it seems to me that your going to need a bit more practice when it comes to taming your own power." The cat informed and then decided to go back to her other student since he had not tried anything since Orihime's awakening began. "What about you? Any luck yet?" The feline questioned before adding, "Tell me: why are you going to the Soul Society." The man in question just stood there. Back at the cylinder chasm Ichigo and Ash were still having a spot of difficulty.

'The fifth encroachment has just ended. There seems to be a cycle to all of this. First they stomp chomping then they fall asleep. During these periods of encroachment neither of us can move an inch. The chains...are so painful.' Ichigo thought to himself before his friend on the wall spoke up.

"Quick. Let's make a move before the chains wake up." As the two rushed off Ichigo got the feeling that Ash understood the pattern, and was acting on it. Both students charged up as fast as they could, but after a while their momentum stopped causing gravity to take over. Before he fell Ash was able to nick where his foot was last. Back at the tip their spectators of three continued to see the chaos.

"It makes no sense what they're doing, but somehow those two are able to run up a practically straight wall. For a pair of humans these two sure take chances." Jinta pointed out

"Oh, you don't say?" Kisuke questioned with a smile hidden by his fan.

"Idiots." The quiet girl muttered out.

"Damn it." Ichigo muttered in anger, but once again Ash still try to remain the symbol of hope.

"Don't quit just yet. Just look up. I have been marking where we stop before gravity pulls us back down. We are making progress." Ash shouted out with joy in his voice. It was then they heard the voice of one of the people above them.

"Are you getting hungry down there yet?" Jinta shouted down at them.

"Not yet, Jinta, but thanks for asking." Ash shouted out at him which annoyed the red haired one of how happy-go-lucky Ash was, and how his comments didn't annoy him...the other one on the other hand.

"Besides, jerk, we're in our soul forms! Why the hell would we be hungry?!" Ichigo shouted out since he was starting to loose it: between this chasm's hopelessness, Ash's optimism, and Jinta's voice he couldn't tell what was worse.

"Well, that's great to hear. Cause I'll let you two in on a little secret. If you're in Soul Form and then you start to get hungry: it's a dangerous sign. It just means you are just one step away from becoming a hollow.

'That sounds pretty bad.' Ash thought to himself and then wondered what was going on with his body since both men did just leave their shells up there – totally helpless. As he thought of that Jinta and Ururu began drooling on Ichigo while Ash got up, with his arms firmly behind his back, and walked to the chasm wall.

"Wonder if it's dark outside? In this room it's difficult to tell the time of day." Kiskue questioned and informed after finishing off his eleventh apple. Down in the shaft Ichigo was giving up while Ash focused on their other factor to consider.

"I wonder how much time has passed. I can't tell at all. Even if I did carry a watch, it would be kind of pointless with my arms behind my back." Ash pointed out to his friend.

"More to the point – how are we expected to get out of here." Ichigo pointed out which was a genuine point. The two then saw a figure come down. Despite not having his arms Ash got ready for a fight – sort of like a muscle memory only to discover that it was Jinta...with a plate of food.

"Thought I'd bring you two a little food down here. I figured you two would be feeling a little bit hungry right about now." The red haired one informed them even though he just wanted to get down to something more fun then just watching these two.

"Excellent notion, Jinta. A celebratory feast for our success, but a little early." Ash informed which again was not what he wanted to hear or see.

"You must be nuts. Neither of us are getting hungry at all. Take a good look. The way I see it. There's still a few links to the chain of fate." Ichigo pointed out while motioning to Ash's chain as well.

"Well, that can't be helped. You will find that you will loose track of time in a place like this." He informed the two which concerned them a bit and watched as he placed the dish down. "You know you two have been down here over seventy hours. I'm just thinking – some of the other souls have been turned into hollows by now." He informed the two.

"Other souls?" Ash whispered under his breath since that got his attention.

"One more thing, the final encroachment – it's nothing like the other ones." He informed them darkly which only excited Ash.

"You mean there's a bigger challenge within this challenge – awesome!" Ketchum shouted out with a big smile on his face.

'Seriously, what is this guy?' The young man questioned to himself before leaving the two of them. After he did the cause to this calamity looked over his shoulder to see his work.

"All right, looks like they are going to become hollows after all." Jinta informed as he heard loud screams of torture at the base of the shaft. The other helper, who actually liked the two new comers decided to do something about this.

"I've got to help. It's time I rescued them." Ururu stated with an outstretched arm, but her boss spoke out before she could do anything.

"Hold it." He instructed, and after he got her attention he added, "Watch them closely: nothing more. Usually when a hole becomes a hollow first the spiritual body explodes, and then it reforms, but in his case the order is all mixed up. The mask is being created while the body is still a hole. This is a sign that he is resisting. There is still a strong possibility that in time the two will become Soul Reapers, so let's watch a while and see." Kisuke informed the two young helpers about this part of his plan. "If they truly become a pair of hollows...just a little longer." He added and this caused the two to look down with a bit of fear in their eyes and body language. It was then that the two realized that nothing was happening to Ash...at all.

"So, what's the deal with Ash? He doesn't have a chain of fate anymore, but nothing is happening to him?" Ururu pointed out which caused their boss to look down and saw what they were talking about, and then he saw something in the hole itself.

'I see, so Ash has a bit more protection then I thought.' The shop owner thought to himself as he looked at the object in the hole. As Ichigo talked to a elderly looking man, and was falling off of the side of a building Ash had a different experience in his mental plane. In the trainer's world it was mostly like home.

"I'm home, but how can that be?" Ash asked as he scanned the area and saw that it was exactly like his hometown of Pallet, and that was when he saw someone to his right. The bearded figure said nothing, just motioned for the trainer to follow which he did.

'There is a possibility that he can hear me, but I want to test him first.' The figure thought to himself as he continued to walk. Eventually the two made it to a Pokemon Stadium, and once inside Ash stopped at his spot of the dueling field.

"I've followed you long enough. Now tell me what's going on here." Ash shouted at the man before him. The man stopped at the other box, turned to face Ash, and then pointed at the jumbo-tron. Ash looked at it and saw several icons from left to right, and then he saw the word hollow on the far right.

"Your other selves are buying you some time for you to find my power, but once the final layer of defense falls – nothing will protect you from the life of a hollow." The man informed and even though Ash didn't understand the other hims part he got the gist of it.

"How?" Ketchum questioned, and with a snap of the fingers their battlefield was surrounded by a sea of white ribbons.

"All you have to do is pull one ribbon and we will be free, but fail this and the shields will all vanish." The man informed which scared the trainer a bit since he did not really like that idea one little bit.

'Maybe if I go up high?' Ash thought and raced off up the flight of stairs that caught his eye. Once on the high level he could see that another icon, of a hallow and wings, shattered meaning that another layer left him. "Come on, there has to be a way to fix this." Ash muttered to himself out loud.

'It looks like he could use a bit of help.' A watcher thought to himself thought before setting his own plan out. It was then that a concession stand lit up with a beverage and a cup full of white straws sitting there.

"That's odd." Ash muttered out, but went over there anyways. "I wonder if that mystery man is the one that did this?" The hero questioned to himself, and unconsciously grabbed a straw while looking over at the next barrier that was starting to crack. When the trainer felt his wandering fingers had something he pulled and saw something odd.

'Excellent. He did exactly as I was hoping he would do.' The watcher thought to himself as he saw that Ash had picked up the right straw.

"This wrapper is red, but all of the others were...white." Ash muttered and understood what was going on. He rushed to the ledge of the level he was in and saw in the sea of white a sliver of red. "All I have to do is go down there and grab it." The out of towner proclaimed before hearing a voice.

"You might want to look carefully at the screen." The voice warned and the trainer saw that he was down to three shields.

"The voice is right. I have to take a leap of faith about this." Ketchum mutter before racing back as far as he could, race to the edge, leap off with an outstretched hand, and at that same moment Ichigo was grabbing a red strand as well. Unknown to either of the two young heroes was the fact that their bodies were exploding with a new power already which worried the man in the shaft with them.

"He's at their absolute limit boss. I am switching to suppression mode." Tessai shouted out before plunging his index and middle finger from both hands into the earth. "Bakudo 99 Part 2: Bakei - 1st incantation: bandage, 2nd incantation hundred deadbolts..." He informed as white wrappings and sophisticated needles jabbed and wrapped around both Ash and Ichigo.

Hey, be careful down there Tessai. If you do all of that there is a good chance that the two could die." Jinta shouted out as a way of warning the older man that what he was doing was a bit reckless.

"I can't hold them down any longer. They must be destroyed immediately. Right now – before they become hollows. Final incantation: Fatal Seal!" Tessai informed them before slamming his hands together. At that point two large crates appeared and were heading straight for the two new warriors.

'That won't stop me.' The two thought as they saw the containers above them, and attacked them without a second thought. Up on the surface Kisuke was shielding the two young ones with his own body.

"Whoa! Look up there! Something's shooting out of it!" The red haired one shouted out as he saw two fireballs flying out of the explosion. After some bouncing around the two balls of fire crashed on the ground. "Those things. Just what the heck are they." Jinta shouted out as he looked at the smoke before them.

'Did that fool think such a spell would work on me?' A voice somewhere within Ash thought before sensing the eyes on him. With that he de-powered Ash's right arm to keep everyone, including Ash himself, of his presence...at least for now; Ichigo wasn't as fortunate.

"Hey, is that you? Answer Carrot-Top. You too Charcoal Head. If you're alive answer me." Jinta shouted out to them as he got away from his boss. The first thing that greeted were a pair of glowing red eyes, but when the smoke cleared... "A shihaksho and a mask? Or is he a Soul Reaper?" Jinta said as he looked at Ichigo while the young girl saw Ash's condition.

'Ash has a shihaksho as well, but his face is covered in bandages, so does he have a mask as well.' Ururu thought to herself and saw that Ash was answering her question by removing the bandages, but her attention was drawn back to the other student when she saw him go for his sword.

"I may be small, but I'll fight ya." The boy shouted out as he stood ready to attack. To their surprise the man turned his handle on the mask, and smashed it. By the time Ash got his bandages off Ichigo had his mask resting on the side of his head. Now seeing that neither of them have changed confused Jinta completely. "Hey, aren't you two supposed to be hollows?" He asked in complete confusion.

'So, I guess this is what the power of a Soul Reaper is supposed to feel like.' Ash thought as he started clenching his right fist. The orange haired one to Ash's right was having a similar thought, but was clenching his left hand.

"Congratulations. It seems you two are now true Soul Reapers. Well done. Lesson Two: completed." The shop owner shouted happily while fluttering open his fan.

"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted out while slamming the handle of his sword into his teacher's face. "Ha! Well, well, well, I bet you weren't expecting us to come back alive, were ya? I swore to myself that if I made it out of that hole I would kill you the first chance that I got!" Ichigo shouted out with an evil smile.

"This is perfect. With all of your spirit we should be able to get you started on lesson three." Urahara informed them as he stood back up.

'Should have seen that coming.' Ash thought to herself, and saw that his fellow hero was completely angered/surprised by this piece of news.

"And the best news is. Lesson three has no time limit. Knock off my hat with your Zanpakto, and the lesson will be cleared." The man with sandals informed and with that Kurosaki took a single sword slash from bottom to top which gave him a hairline crack on his hat. "Not bad. Considering your Zanpakto is broken." The teacher commented with a smile.

"I wouldn't be so smug. Because I haven't gotten down to business yet. Look: why don't we forget about your concept of no time limit. I bet between the two of us we can end this lesson in five minutes." Kurusaki shouted out with a big smile on his face.

"Sounds good. Five minutes? You said that's all the time you need, right?" Kisuke questioned to them as he unsheathed his sword from his cane, and stood ready to fight.


	5. Chapter 5

Ash, and any mentioned Pokemon is from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Bleach is from TV Tokyo

Chapter 5

The team gathers for a new adventure

Once Byakuya was done speaking with his sister he left, but on his way he heard a pair of voices behind him. "My compliments Squad Six Captain. You handle yourself very professionally back there." One of them stated causing him to turn and face them, but only a shoulder glance. "I thought condemning your own sister to death might be difficult for you. You're truly an example for all Soul Reapers." He added to his first statement as he continued to sit on the guardrail.

"Are you joking? The only Soul Reapers that are scared of dying are you and the Captain of Squad Nine." Another voice commented as the body of the voice continued to lean against the wall opposite of the railing.

"Oh, is that so?" The other man questioned back as he took that as a challenge.

"If this were official business you two wouldn't be without your adjutants. So, what do you want with me?" The elder brother informed and questioned to the two before turning completely around to face them. The two were fellow captains, but were completely different from one another.

"We were just concerned. We wanted to make certain that one of our esteemed colleges wasn't feeling badly about having to pass sentence on a member of his own family." The white haired man informed the more experienced swordsman.

"Our family lineage is none of your business." The Captain of Squad Six informed the other which caused the other to get into the conversation.

"Good to know your not upset. Criminals can do such damage to a noble family's image." The spiky haired man commented while hoping that would spark up a need for the man before him to fight him.

"Oh? And since when does a commoner like you know anything about nobility?" Byakuya questioned to the other man causing the man in question to get up off of the wall.

"Huh. Well, I guess you could say that I've always been a keen observer. For that matter I'd be pleased to offer you my services." He offered his fellow warrior before continuing with, "Perhaps you would like me to behead the criminal before the execution?" The battle focused one hoped that he would agree, but...

"I don't think that even you, Squad 11 Captain, has the skill for something like that." He commented since he knew of one that could do it far better than the man before him.

"Why don't you test me, then?" The opposing captain questioned since he was getting antsy.

"I don't think you really mean that." The calmer one informed to the other.

"Try me." The other one instructed and in a blinding light of white there was nothing there. Byakuya heard a noise and looked up and the roof next to him. It was there he saw his opponent struggling in some sort of binding with the other captain holding the end of the binding.

"My most sincere apologies Squad 6 Captain. I assure you: it was not my intention to offend you in any way. Please give my regards to your sister, all right." The quieter of the two informed before leaping away and taking the Squad 11 Captain with him.

"I wanna fight. Let me at him." The 11th Captain instructed while being dragged off. With nothing else to do the Squad 6 Captain kept on walking on his way. Back in the Land of the Living Tessai was getting out of the hole, and was not the worse for ware.

"Finally." The binding expert stated as he climbed the rest of the way out of the hole.

"Whoa! There you are, Mr. Tessai. Are you alright?" Jinta shouted in surprise and relief before questioning his safety.

"No, I'm not alright. My glasses nearly fell apart." The tallest of the four informed the young one while dusting himself off and then pointed to the object in question to prove his point.

"As long as your breathing then you're all right. And even if your glasses are cracked you probably want to keep them on just to see what happens next. Just a minute ago, Mr. Kisuke got out his sword. So this should really be good." The red haired one stated and just like that the three were having an interesting fight of two on one.

"Hey, not bad. Considering your using a little kiddy-sword." Ichigo complimented as he and Ash leaped off of a stone that was turned to pebbles with one slash of the others sword.

"Oh, what a compliment, Student, but don't think I'll go easy on ya." Kisuke shouted as he happily swung his sword all around; trying to get at the two trainees.

'Wait just a minute. Ichigo and I are spirits now, so something like that cane-sword of our teacher's shouldn't be able to affect us at all.' Ash thought with his fellow student having a similar thought going on in their heads. By the time Ash, armed with the same pole that he used in his first fight in this world, and Ichigo armed with what's left of his sword stood ready. Then without warning...

"You let your guard down. You two thought that just because I'm not a Soul Reaper I couldn't have a Zanpakto, and then our thinking there's no way I could hurt either of you. You are so naive. Awaken now, Benihime." Their teacher informed them after casually knocking away Ichigo's mask, and some bindings off of Ash with ease. The two were just in awe as they watched another sword achieve a new form. "I assure you this is a real Zanpakto. Very real." He commented once the transformation was complete.

'So, these swords that these guys use is like a starter Pokemon: having their own name and identity along with having a special bond with the warrior they have chosen to stay beside.' Ash thought before remembering what Renji had said to them.

"You can't even ask your Zanpakto it's name. I knew it!" The memory shouted out at them, or more specifically Ichigo. The two were brought back to reality while still wandering what was up with this whole name thing.

"Yes. Each Zanpakto carries a unique name. And this one is: Benehime, the Red Princess. Let us show you." The teacher said darkly and swung his sword.

"Whoa!" The red haired youth shouted out as he narrowly got knocked down by the flying bodies. The two came to a halt, but by the time they did that Kisuke was already on top of them.

"I'll give you two credit for not running away at least, and for parrying with your pieces of scrap metal." Urahara informed them as his sword met with both of his student's weapons. "Nether of you are short on nerve. Just the same: Benehime is much to fierce to weapons like yours stop her." He added and was able to go right through their weapons.

'This can't be.' Ash thought as he watched as an inch or two had been taken from his metal stick and about the same was taken from Ichigo's weapon. With that message received Ash tried out a move that worked back home – speed is better than power.

'He cut through our weapons like a couple of sticks of butter.' Ichigo thought as he two raced away from their opponent.

"Don't you two get it, yet. Neither of your weapons have any concentration of Spirit Energy." Urahara, who was already on their heels, informed before casually dodging their attacks, and then continued with, "It has the size of a Zanpakto, but that's all it has. Both have the potential to be a Zanpakto, but neither have any of the internal strength. So, I can cut them...just like that." The teacher explained while cutting the guard away, along with a couple more inches from Ash's weapon.

'Okay, this is really not looking good.' The out of towner thought to himself as he looked at what was left of his weapon with Ichigo doing the same.

"Now you two have no weapon at all. Do you two continue to plan your attacks with just those two little stumps. I suppose you could still knock my hat off with them, but this time guys you will need something stronger than just blind luck or courage. I think it's only fair to warn you if you try to go against me with that inferior weapon. I will kill you." He informed the two of them, and with a streak of yellow coating their spines the two ran.

'Is this it? Is this really the real backbone I have?' Ash thought and then added, 'I have taken on some of the most powerful powerful creatures back home, but now look at me: running like a coward. I'm a living disgrace of all the honorable warriors I've fought against.' Ash thought to himself as he continued to try to survive the fight with Kisuke, but was failing miserably not knowing that Ichigo was having the same process.

"Yes, you are/that's you." Both the spirit within Ichigo and the spirit within Ash commented to the two cowering warriors. "Why are you running away?" The two questioned their partners in a serious tone.

"You may have the clothes of a Soul Reaper, but not the full power of one: hence the pole, and not the sword." Ash's partner informed the trainer gone hero. The two then started speaking the same instructions.

"Face forward, Ichigo/Ash. And you should be able to hear me now. The only thing plugging your ears is your own fear." With that the physical bodies of both warriors stopped dead in their tracks. "There's only one enemy and one of you. So, what is there to be afraid of?" The sword spirits questioned to their partners, but neither were expecting an answer.

"Hey, what's up? He just stopped, and so did Ash and Ichigo." The boy youngster commented as the three of them hid behind a sturdy boulder.

'I guess those two want to go down swinging. I wouldn't expect anything less.' The shop owner thought as he readied his sword.

"Abandon your fear. Turn and face him. Don't give an inch. Now, Ichigo/Ash advance – never stop. If you retreat you will age. Be afraid and you'll die. Now shout out my name!" The bearded man within Ash's mind and the glasses wearing man in Ichigo's mind informed/shouted out at them.

"Zangetsu/Misogi!" The two young boys shouted out, and in an explosion of power the scraps of metal they once had were now totally different swords. All four were amazed that the two of them had that kind of hidden power, but were a little confused at the results.

"What kind of Zanpakto is that? It doesn't even have a hilt or a guard on it. It's not even shaped like a normal sword like Ash's one, but his looks like it's built like a beginner level Soul Reaper." Jinta commented on the appearance of both teen's weapons.

'Such power.' Tessai thought to himself as he felt the energies coming off of those two swords, and didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. The guys in question were looking over their new weapons they've unlocked.

"Well, it's about time. Now that you've managed to draw my Zanpakto time for Lesson Number three. Are you ready for that?" The teacher questioned to the two of them.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Urahara, but I hop you dodge this." Ichigo instructed as he got ready to swing.

"What?" The green themed man questioned back in a confused tone.

"Because we can't control this yet." Ash informed and it was then the two's bindings, bolts on their right shoulder shattered away.

"Scream, Benehime!" The wiser man shouted out, and with that there was a strike vertically and one horizontally that blew his hat clean off of his head. "Phew! Good thing I protected myself with my Blood-Mist shield, or I might be short one limb." His hat landed near his feet causing him to notice the fallen object. "That wasn't very nice. I do believe you slaughtered my hat." He informed as he looked at the side that was missing thanks to Ichigo and the lid that was missing thanks to Ash. "Impressive. I didn't expect either of you could do such a thing with a single swing of your sword. You two kids really scare me, you know that?" He saw that Ichigo was sleeping with his head resting on his arm, and his body being supported by the grounded in sword. Ash on the other hand was completely on his back: fast asleep. "Lesson Three: Cleared." The teacher stated to the two before seeing that some of his rocks were shorter than they used to be, and there was a deep gash in the earth. In another part of the country another man was finishing up.

"At last. It's complete. I owe it all to you, sensei." Uryuu muttered out loud as he looked at the blue and white glove on his right arm. In another part of the country there was an immense explosion, and another was cheering for it.

"You did it! Chad that was so amazing! Way to go, YAY!" Orihime shouted out with a big smile on her face and raised Chad's fighting arm for him.

"You clumsy fools! That explosion is causing panic in the streets. Quick out the back door." The fuzzy one informed the two and saw them both run away from the big gaping hole that the taller one made.

"Okay. Okay." The child like girl shouted out as the two charged away from them.

'I can't believe they have both awakened their powers, and have become capable individuals.' The cat thought with unnerving confidence that they could weather the battles that lied ahead of them. Then the longer haired girl screamed in alarm. "What happened?" The pointy-eared creature shouted out since the two might have been discovered by one of the construction workers in the area.

"Chad, passed out and fell down the stairs." Orihime shouted out and then became frantic over what she had just seen.

'Then again.' The cat thought as the fuzzy one considering ditching these two by leaping out of the hole that Chad had made. After their training Ash and Ichigo were told to relax until the gate to the Soul Society was up and running. Since Ash didn't have a place in this world to call home Kisuke informed him that it was okay to call his shop home until further notice. Ichigo even invited his fellow swordsman to watch the fireworks.

"Isn't this exciting everyone? We're finally here at the fireworks festival!" The excitable Keigo shouted out to the others around him.

"You are so enthusiastic." Keigo's old friend stated while wishing that his friend would reel in his excitement.

"What are you talking about?! Who doesn't like things getting on fire and explode!" The energetic alley of Ichigo shouted out to the others with a very big smile on his face.

"Hey, don't forget about me. In fact I slept on the sidewalk over there last night in order to save the very best spot. Follow me and we'll go there now." Ichigo's father informed and then thumbed in the general direction that he fell asleep at.

"Hey, for a grown-up you're all right." Keigo shouted back and was surprised that an adult was just as excited as he was when it came to fireworks.

"How about you two lovely ladies. Care to join us?" The father of their friend questioned to Orihime and Tatsuki hanging in the back of the group.

"We'll be there a little later." The raven haired one of the duo responded.

"Suit yourselves. Come on everyone. The sun's going down and it's almost explosion time." The man-child of the group shouted out with the others racing right behind him. This only left: Ash, Ichigo, Tatsuki, and Orihime.

"Well, might as well. Guess I'll go too." Ichigo stated out loud to himself before addressing something. "Sorry, Tatsuki, it's always like this. You don't have to come along if you don't want to." Ichigo informed his old sparring partner of the 'get out of here scott-free' card.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Ichigo. I'll probably catch up with everyone later. You just go ahead and have fun." The martial artist maiden informed him while waving her uninjured hand.

"Come on, Ichigo, I'll race you there." Ash shouted out with a big smile on his face.

'Doesn't this guy ever stop competing.' The orange haired youth thought to himself before chasing after the raven haired boy, but then again he did find his challenges somewhat enjoyable especially compared to Urahara's lessons. The only two left decided to talk a bit.

"They're all so energetic." Orihime pointed out with a big smile on her face.

"I'll say. It wears me out just watching them." The raven haired girl informed while feeling her friend's eye's on her cocooned right arm.

"Is your hand bothering you Tatsuki?" The long haired one questioned with a sympathetic tone.

"Huh? No. Actually it doesn't hurt at all. Except for hurting my pride a little bit whenever I think how it cost me first place." The martial artist of the two informed while looking down at her bandaged limb/

"Yeah, but taking second place in a national tournament still makes you the second strongest girl in the whole country. That mean – you're great." The old friend informed her to raise her confidence up a bit.

"I hadn't thought of that before." The warrior woman muttered under her breath.

"See. Tatsuki, you're amazing!" Orihime shouted out before running off leaving the lady in question to think of why her friend seems a little bit more happy then usual. Eventually the two young women ended up at a spot near a river. "This is one of my favorite places in the whole world to relax." The one about to go away said after giving off a happy sigh.

"We haven't come here since last year about this time." The slugger in a sling said as she looked at the sunset in the distance.

"Have I ever told you about coming here with my brother." The warrior with six helpers stated not knowing that her friend had a growing feeling that there was something not being said. "He and I used to come to this place too and he had this amazing ability to catch red dragonfly on his fingertip. He would just point his finger to the sky and right away a red dragonfly would land. It was like magic. I always wanted to do that too, but I never could." She continued on without knowing that her friend's mind was else where.

'Did what happened at school really happen.' The raven haired girl thought to herself as she recalled this timid girl before her pledging that she would protect her this time. Soon night fell and the quiet one of the two decided to speak.

"So, you're going to go visit some relatives next week?" Tatsuki asked with a curious tone.

"Uh...M-hmm." The one in question nodded along with that sound.

"Ichigo and that Ash kid said they were taking a trip somewhere too." Tatsuki informed and got a nervous chuckle as a response. "What you said about winning Second Place was pretty cool, Orihime." She informed which caused the girl in question to turn to her. "You're right. Because even though I didn't come in fist in that tournament I still gained something. There are always things you discover just by doing the best you can do. So, I think...that for you...if you've decided to do something then you should go ahead and do it, and do the best you can, but please just promise that you'll come back, okay. I'll be waiting for you Orihime." The school chum stated while looking at her arm and then over to her friend. Soon after that small speech the fireworks started to shoot off.

"Ichigo's dad rocks." Keigo shouted out with a happy smile.

"Ichigo's dad picked a great spot." Mizuiro commented back, and the two hidden warriors of the group just smiled. Both of them were happy that the others were having a great time together. Soon the fireworks ended and everyone went back home. Seven days later Ash woke from his slumber as he saw Kisuke walk past his room while carrying something.

"Is there something the matter, Mr. Urahara?" Ash asked after getting out of his room and into the hallway. The man in question looked over his shoulder and saw that his tenant was up and at `em.

"Oh, Ash, you're up. Good. Nothing's wrong, but do me a favor a grab those two balloons back there." The shop owner stated and instructed. Ketchum glanced over and saw what he was talking about. "And take them outside for me." He added to his first comment which the trainer did. Outside he saw that Tessai was setting up some sort of big slingshot.

"What's this all about?" The out of towner questioned and suddenly felt a bit on guard about this whole thing. The others saw and felt this, so one of them decided to try to put his paranoia at ease.

"This is how Mr. Urahara contacts special friends, Ash." Ururu informed him while looking away shyly. That did the trick, and he watched them launch the four spheres with Kisuke's faces into four different directions. Ash was unsure of the purpose of those spheres, but he had a feeling that Kisuke had a plan.

"Well. I guess it's about time." Ichigo said, back at his home as he opened up his bedroom window. "All I can do now is wait." The substitute swordsman added after opening his window, and just sat on his bed remembering what his teacher told him to do. "I've got a really bad feeling about this." He muttered under his voice before feeling the wind outside, "Huh. There's a nice breeze tonight at least. Hey." He said while enjoying the night before something buzzed past him and slammed into his closed closet door in red. It was a message that read:

"URGENT:

Meet us out the Urahara Shop Immediately!"

"Who the hell contacts people like that. This is like some TV crime scene message written in the victim's own blood, AND IT BETTER NOT STAIN MY WALL!" Ichigo shouted out as he saw what was on his closet before seeing something else. "What's this? A P.S.?" He muttered before seeing what else it said.

"P.S.

If you're thinking that this message is like some victim's written in their own blood cliche from some TV show then you obviously have no sense of humor."

"Oh, shut up!" The orange haired warrior of good shouted out while grabbing his bed pillow and slammed it into the message. He used his bathroom to quickly clean the messy message, saw his sisters sleeping one last time, and headed out the door. "Well, dad, Karin, Yuzu, good-bye." Ichigo muttered under his breath before hearing a familiar noise.

"Good Mornin Ichigo!" The voice shouted out causing the boy in question to step slightly to the right to avoid being attacked from above. "You dodged the attack, my son." The man said while being in serious pain.

"This is how you say good-bye?! What's wrong with you?" The young man shouted at his father in anger.

"Before you left, Ichigo, I wanted to make sure you had this to bring with you." The father said as he dug an item out of his pocket and handed to his departing son.

"What am I supposed to do with some dirty old charm?" The orange haired youth questioned as he looked at the given item in his open left palm.

"Watch your mouth. That talisman was given to me by your mother long ago." The father explained, and the youth regretted his choice of words when the reason for his duty was brought up. "It's precious." He added once he saw that he got his father's attention.

"Then why are you giving it to me for? I can't keep this thing." The hidden swordsman questioned with a shouting voice.

"Of course you can't. Who ever said that I giving it to you permanently. You have to give it back to me as soon as you come home. Sheesh." The birth father of this fine warrior explained before sighing in relief. "It should bring you luck. It always had for me. Think of it as a gift from your mother. Well, what do you say?" The man said in a serious tone, but once he did not get a reply he started to ramble until the leaving one finally spoke.

"All right, already. I'll take it." Ichigo answered him while clenching the item in question tightly into his fist. "I'm going now. Good-bye, dad." He said while walking away.

"Bye." He said with a smile before going back inside. As the second swordsman was walking he was reminded of the important parts of his and Rukia's interactions. 'So many strange things have happened to me lately.' Ichigo thought as he recalled Rukia's career choice, knowing the two parts of his new found job, and her concern of what happened to his mother. Then he recalled the cold tone she used on himself and his new friend – Ash. 'But now, I swear...' He thought as he recalled his female friend's gaze. 'I can't pretend like all of that never happened.' He thought in connection to his previous one, and just like that he made it to his destination. His teacher saw him and spoke:

"Well, well, well, If it isn't Ichigo, and right on time." The student saw Ash and one other.

"Hey, Chad. What are you doing here?" The swordsman stand-in of Rukia questioned when he saw his schoolyard chum standing before him.

"Rukia saved me once. I want to help her out if I can. I'm going too." The muscle of their group informed the new arrival as to why he was here since he had already told Kisuke and Ash.

"Huh?" The boy stated while stepping back by one step in confusion since this was not what he was expecting.

"What's the matter? Are you hard of hearing or something?" A new comer's voice questioned from the entrance causing the orange haired warrior to turn and face the new comer which turned out to be the long-range fighter of the group.

"Uryuu?" The second sword swinger questioned and was surprised to see him here.

"I don't take defeat well. Especially when it is at the hands of a Soul Reaper. So, I'm going to." The bowman explained himself while using a dead serious tone.

"Glad to see that you're up and about. My name is Ash." The trainer into swordsman said after jogging up to the latest to arrive.

"Thanks, and I heard your name back at that fight." The glasses wearing archer said as he took outstretched hand to accept his handshake. While Ash was happy to have more fighters for this adventure Ichigo was still confused.

"So, I guess we're all present and accounted for." Another voice called out while coming closer to them. The owner of the voice was Orihime who seemed rather happy to go on this adventure. "That's right guys, I got the message too." She said with a bow as to avoid any confusion as to why else would she be here in the middle of the night.

"Hold on. I was willing to have Ash come with me on this rescue mission, but why the hell are the rest of you here?" The doctor's son questioned aloud so that all could hear him.

"You're a little slow on the uptake." A black cat informed them causing all to see the small four limed creature.

"Yoruichi?" The long haired one questioned to the latest to arrive in this area.

"Kid, don't tell me in the increase in the hidden power in these three friends of yours. There have been so many clues. You two need to be more observant of that if you intend to survive. While you were training and claiming the powers of the Soul Reaper the three of them were also training in their own way. Instead of asking stupid, meaningless questions you ought to be thanking them." The cat explained to the two of them.

"Cool, a cat that has a voice that isn't instantly annoying." Ash said as he walked over, gently picked it up, and held it close.

"What the hell are you doing Ash! That freaking cat just spoke – doesn't that raise some alarms?!" Ichigo shouted out at the other swordsman who just shook his head casually.

"Besides his name is Yoruichi. He's not just a cat." The young woman defended the feline.

"I admit, Ichigo, it is hard to get used to." The Quincy of the group reasoned with the one that was freaking out.

"I'm still adjusting to it myself." The tallest in the group reasoned with his friend to not make him feel out of place regarding this cat.

"Alright already. Come on everybody. Let's take this little party inside the store. There are things we can't talk about we can't talk about out in the open." Urahara explained while clapping his hands and gestured to the cracked sliding door. With that said most of them went inside except for two.

"Orihime." Ichigo spoke out once the others were inside since he wanted this conversation just between the two of them.

"What is it, Ichigo?" The girl in question asked as innocently as possible even though she had a feeling that he would react this way once she came to help with this rescue mission.

"How much do you know about what's going on? I mean...this is going to be dangerous." He explained to her. The young warrior didn't want to say that she couldn't handle it. It was just that she seemed to nice to be in the heat of battle.

"Yes, but I gave my promise. I promised that I'd go with you, and I...told Tatsuki that I'd come back to her." The fellow orange haired youth said back to him which that last part surprised him a bit. With nothing else needed to be said the two followed to the others to the underground training area.

"I appreciate the ride, Ash." The cat creature said after getting out of Ash's grip and landed on a nearby rock once they had made it to the bottom.

"No problem. Always happy to help when I can." He said back before seeing a pair of specks near the top of the wooden latter. "Hey, here comes Ichigo and Orihime." He shouted to the others, and with that they waited for them to come down.

"Wow, this is so incredible. Who knew there was something this humungous right below the shop. Isn't it amazing?" The innocent one stated and questioned to the others once she made it to the base of the latter.

"I guess." The classmate said back since he didn't really see it. Then again he recalled that he and Ash had been seeing it for a while, and this was her first time.

"A heart warming reaction. It's such a pleasure to have you on this trip, my deer." Tessai said back to her while whipping away his happy tears with one hand as he held the young heroine's hand with his other. This made the two believe that Tessai was the one to build and repair this place while Kisuke...supervised.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Tessai." The girl stated back a bit nervously since this was not the reaction she was expecting. The others looked at the grandeur of this place and Ash along with Ichigo were surprised that this place was completely repaired after all of their training.

"Alright, everyone, your attention please. All eyes right over here. Voila...this is the gate that leads to the Soul Society. It is called a Senkaimon, or Tunnel World Gate. I'm going to tell you all how to successfully pass right through it, but first there needs to be a couple of quick changes." Kisuke said as he summoned a hollowed out square and then struck Ash and Ichigo with his cane: freeing them into their Soul Reaper forms.

"How about giving us some sort of warning next time, Urahara." Ichigo shouted out while somewhat hearing his old friend's question to him, but it was Ash that handled her.

"Try not to say things like that, Orihime. It makes me sound like a doll, and I've had a bad history about that specific word.

"Alright, listen up." The older blonde man said after getting a good chuckle out of him once he had heard enough of the conversation behind him. "Unlike normal gates: this one has a Spirit Particle Conversion Machine." He explained to them which seemed like too much techno jargon to comprehend.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The big sword wielder questioned.

"I'll explain. As you already know the Soul Society is a Spirit World. Unless you're in spirit form it's impossible to enter. Right now only two of you can enter as a spirit: Ichigo and Ash, Soul Reapers. The conversion machine with change the rest of you into spirits as well." Kisuke informed them using simpler terms.

"So, you're saying the gate will let us through without extracting our souls?" The smart one of the team questioned since he was just making sure that he understood this tech.

"Yes. Passing through the conversion machine will allow you to stay in your present forms." Their base leader informed them and this long explanation was getting on the main rescuer's nerves.

"We understand all of this. Let's just get go—ack!" Kurosaki was about to explain, but was interrupted with a cane jabbed into his left side.

"But there's a catch." The inventor of the portal explained to them in an almost sing-song tone. "The window of time the gate can be kept open for you is only...four minutes long." Kisuke informed them with a dead serious tone.

"But is that enough time?" The substitute questioned back since that didn't seem like such a fair deal.

"Ordinarily: no." He answered and got a shocked expression from the one that asked the question. "In fact the whole scheme is a little shaky. Four minutes with the gate is all I can give you. After that it will close, and anyone who hasn't made it through yet will be trapped forever in the Donkai: the precipice world between this world and the Soul Society." Kisuke informed them of the downside of this part of the rescue mission.

"How will we ever make it?" Orihime qu3estioned since just this first part seemed like it was waged against them.

"Go forward. Remember what I told you about the connection between heart and soul. You must have no doubt. Have no fear. Do not think of those you are leaving behind. The will to go forward will be your guide, and don't look back. Only those that can do these things can follow me through the gate and survive." Yoruichi informed them while looking at the gate and then looked to the others. Ichigo was about to say something, but Ash beat him to it.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about us Yoruichi. We have all trained hard to get where we are this day, so I'm sure that nothing like a collapsing tunnel is going to stop us." Ketchum said with a smile on his face, and optimism in his tone.

"And you all understand that if you loose. You can no longer return to this life again, right?" The cat questioned to them just to make sure they understand the situation that they were about to embark.

"Don't worry, Yoruichi, I have faith that we will save Rukia." Ash responded to the cat while still carrying his smile. Ketchum knew that Kurosaki wanted to tell the flea-bag off, but the trainer knew that the creature was only looking out for them.

"Exactly." The beast responded, and just like that the center of the empty square lit up with power.

"So, everybody ready? Run in as fast as you can." Kisuke reminded them as he was help open the gate to the other side.

"Right." The short-tempered teen stated back.

"Good luck." Urahara said back and in a blinding light the group was gone. He stood up, walked to the portal, tried to touch it, but something stopped him. "We're all counting on you, Ash...Ichigo." He said while looking at the gate of energy.


End file.
